Like Water And Fire
by Mizumi Gintori
Summary: NO ZUTARA, despite of the title. OCs only. Sakari is Northern Water Tribe and doesn't agree with all her Tribe's customs. She then meets Rong, a young firebender who's forced into the ongoing war and disagrees with it.
1. Chapter 1

**Pre-reading note: as you may have read on my profile page, I'm changing the names of major characters in this story. The names are as follows: Mizumi = Sakari (meaning sweet), Rikoh = Rong (meaning harmonious), Harina = Sedna (mistress of the sea), Hioko = Balto, Hakko = Yukon (meaning river). These are more Inuit sounding names (or Chinese, in Rikoh/Rong's case), so therefore in my opinion more appropriate for the characters. I hope you'll understand this decision, also if you're already used to the old names. In case you stumble upon an old name, don't hesitate to warn me. Thank you. **

**Enjoy the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The young firebender leaned over the handrail of the ship and sighed, deeply. The first buildings of the Northern Water Tribe were already visible at the horizon.

"The Northern Water Tribe," he muttered, taking off his mask. Brown, short hair was revealed now, as were his eyes, as brown as fresh-fallen chestnuts. "I've heard so many praising words about it… Why should we attempt to take it over? Haven't we already destroyed enough?"

"Did you say something, firebender?" a harsh voice sounded behind him.

He looked up, startled, but tried to hide the last thing. "No, admiral. I was just musing for a bit, nothing special."

"Alright, then. We will arrive tomorrow," the admiral said, "it won't be difficult – after all, the whole place is ice, and ice melts." A solacing tap on his shoulder, and then, the admiral left the handrail to check on the other firebenders.

The young man sighed again. "Why was I born with these skills?" he softly whispered, a bit more careful now to make sure he wasn't heard this time. "If I wasn't, I'd still have had the slightest change to escape the army.f But, so much for being ordinary – I'm a firebender, after all."

* * *

"Everyone got it, now?" the old Healer asked in a serious voice. "Healing burn marks is important nowadays with the Fire Nation being a threat, therefore the constant repetition. You must learn how to properly and skilfully… _Sakari_!"

The young student looked up with her innocent, water blue eyes. Some locks of her brown hair fell in front of her embarrassed smile. She hadn't been paying attention at all, and was playing around with the water she was supposed to be using for Healing. As a Northern Water Tribe girl, she wasn't allowed to use her skills for waterbending, merely for Healing. But Healing was easy for her – she wanted more of a challenge. She wanted to waterbend. She'd studied the male waterbenders in her spare time and picked up some moves, and practised them whenever she had the opportunity to. But this time, during Healing class, she was caught.

"But I already know how to heal burn marks," she quickly said, desperate as she was to hide her secret.

The older woman nodded now. "Fine – come show us, then. My cousin has burnt her hand the other day while making a fire."

The called cousin stood up now – Sakari's best friend, the sixteen year old Sedna.

Sakari sighed in a relieved way. Sedna wouldn't betray her even if she knew what she'd been doing; they were too close of friends for childish betrayal like that.

Sedna reached her hand to her friend now and revealed a red burn mark on her wrist. Sakari opened the bottle of water stuck on her waist, concentrated on the wound and directed the water straight to it. A few seconds later, the marks were gone, and Sakari stepped back. A deep sigh escaped her mouth – she'd done it again.

"Very well," the old Healer muttered, "I just hope you will know how to handle more severe wounds, too, if you keep refusing to pay attention. You can return to your place now, both of you."

And so the girls did, sharing looks with one another. Sakari's said 'thank you', Sedna's simply said 'any time'.

"Now you've all regained your seats, I'd like to say the following," the old Healer said. "In a week, you'll all be fully qualified Healers. I expect you to help our brave men who are out in the war now and Heal their wounds properly, as I attempted to tutor you. Also, as my personal wish, I hope that all of you who haven't turned sixteen yet, will become decent and caring housewives when they do."

* * *

Sakari and Sedna left the Healing Hut together, Sakari with a worried look on her face. "My sixteenth birthday is in three months," she remarked, "I can't believe that's around the same time span I'll have to get engaged!"

Sedna coughed as an answer, and gently touched the navy blue choker that was around her neck. A blue pendant was attached to it. "I… I'm already sixteen…"

"Yes, but…" Sakari now looked up, only to notice the pendant she'd never seen before. She could merely frown at her friend. "You are engaged! Why didn't you tell me so before? For how long, to whom?!"

Sedna chuckled. "Calm down, dad only gave him permission this morning," she said, "I got the pendant just before Healing lessons started for today. You didn't miss a thing."

"And?" Sakari said, pretty excited by now. "Who, who? Do I know him?"

"_Calm down_, I said! Yes, you know him," Sedna smiled, blushing now. "And I can't express how happy I am that he actually asked for my hand. Mine, of all the girls he could have chosen…"

Sakari didn't need more words to know whom she was talking about. Lately, Sedna had been seeing a young man known for his flirting behaviour. It wasn't exactly a secret he'd dated many of the Tribe's girls before Sedna. That he'd ask her to marry him now would certainly lead to many disappointed girls. But Sakari wasn't one of them, happy as she was for her friend. "Oh, Sedna! That's just great!"

"I never expected it," Sedna now admitted, "but in despite of his reputation, dad found him worthy enough to become my husband. Probably because of his waterbending and warrior skills, but I couldn't care less why exactly he accepted them, really."

"I totally understand, you're way too happy he actually did," Sakari smiled, hugging her friend. "Good luck to you!"

"Thank you… oh." Sedna let go of her now, and looked over her friend's shoulder. "There he is…"

Sakari turned around now and noticed a not unattractive young man was walking into their direction. She smiled. "Go, you!"

Sedna now ran towards him as fast as she could, fell in his arms.

Sakari watched as the two embraced each other warmly, and then walked off together. She shook her head with a smile. Her friend had been very lucky, but she doubted she'd have to same luck to find a man she could love ánd marry. If she was lucky enough, a pretty decent guy would ask her father for her hand, and she would be able to grow to love him over the years. Oh, well. She didn't complain and knew how to learn how to live with it – it was part of her Tribe's customs, after all.

* * *

"We will be at our most powerful if we attack now," the admiral called, "it's summer, the sun's out – we will be close to invincible against those waterbenders!"

The young firebender didn't even bother to look up anymore as the admiral passed him, while he was still leaning over the handrails. He'd stood there practically the whole night, with only a little break to sleep. Sleeping was hard, knowing he'd have his first fight in the army in a couple of hours. Looking at the horizon, more buildings of the Tribe were getting visible now. The more he saw of them, the more he felt the urge to leave the ship and get back home. Why take over such a beautiful place? Why not leaving it the way it was, and had been for who knows how many years? These people had tried their hardest to build their place, and they would only destroy it. He hated it to be Fire Nation. People would look away whenever he passed them, or shout names at him for destroying their homes. He wasn't one of those, but he couldn't prevent people saw him like that. And it bothered him to no end.

* * *

Sakari had barely arrived at home when her mother ran to her, in tears.

"Sakari, the Fire Nation is approaching us! Father has gone off to fight, and I'm so afraid he won't come back… So afraid…"

Sakari hugged her mother to comfort her, while anger was bubbling inside her. Why, why did they attack? They hadn't done anything wrong, just like their sister tribe in the south and the other two nations. She hated the war, which had been going on for as long as she could remember. Fifty years… did people actually remember the reason the war was started? For as far as she knew, the Fire Nation just wanted to rule the world.

As soon as she'd comforted her mother, Sakari left her home and went outside, to check on the coastline. Indeed, Fire Nation ships had arrived and were shooting fire balls to the city. Male waterbenders tried to stop them, but the Fire Nation had an advantage – it was daytime. Their powers were fortified by the rays of the sun, while the waterbenders drained powers from the moon. It didn't matter full moon was approaching: it wasn't in the sky as for now. The fire balls were stronger than the waterbenders' attacks, and several of her people were quickly wounded.

She couldn't just watch them getting hurt, she felt she had to do something. And thus, she did – but not as one would suspect from a Water Tribe girl. She wouldn't run to Heal the wounded ones, no. That was for the other girls to do. She, Sakari, ran forwards to fight the Fire Nation herself, no matter what they might say to her afterwards.

She summoned the water from the cold sea, directed it towards the ships and found she was actually able to blast away some firebenders up there. Excited by her sudden powers, she summoned more water and kept blasting, but it was of no use. Firebenders did come of the ship and attacked her people, and it would only be a matter of time before she herself would get hit.

And some more urgent business required her handling: little children had come out of their houses to watch what was going on, not realizing they were putting their lives on the line by coming outside in times of war. She started to collect the children and get them back, but some of them had recognized their fathers and brothers fighting and wanted to 'help' them. Sakari usually loved children, but this time, they were driving her to the edge of insanity. "Just listen to me! This is dangerous, you must go inside!"

But the children took it as a game and wandered around – until one of them was hit by a fire ball. "Mummy!"

Sakari picked up the child quickly and hushed it. "Calm down, let me look at it…" She ran to a safe spot with the child, forced it to expose its arm. It was a severe burn mark, and Sakari actually doubted it she would be able to heal it completely.

She's only just reached out her hand to grab her Healing water when the mother ran towards them, and she was not happy.

"You devilish child!" she screamed, grabbing back her child, "you must be possessed, to fight like a man! Don't you dare touching my only daughter!"

"But…" Sakari never got to say 'but I just wanted to help', since the mother ran off as quickly as she possibly could. She sighed, deeply, unsure of what to do now. If a random woman of her Tribe would accuse her of being possessed, then she was truly wondered what the leaders might think of her waterbending. Maybe she should just use it for as long as she still could.

She left her hiding spot again, and faced a firebender. Judging by his appearance, he wasn't very old yet – probably a teenager. He seemed hesitant to attack her, and as far as she could see, he actually tried to prevent the other firebenders from hurting little children.

Was he like her? Was he against the war, but forced to join it anyway? She had heard it was possible. Of course, not _all_ people of the Fire Nation automatically agreed with the war.

She looked at him for a long while, insecure and immobile. What should she do? Attack him, or give him the benefit of the doubt? She couldn't decide. Hatred against firebenders felt so natural, that feeling sympathy for an individual one had simply never occurred to her as a possibility. But now…

Just before she could make up her mind, the young firebender fell in front of her feet. "What the…" She looked down, and noticed the huge burn mark on his back that had gone right through his military uniform. Another firebender had hit him? Was it an accident? It practically _had _to be, because why else would they be attacking one of their own? But when she carefully looked around the corner, she noticed that an accident was out of the question. From the point the nearest firebender was standing, only the firebender at her feet would have been a possible target to actually hit. She, no matter how inexperienced in war, could only draw one conclusion out all of this – he had deliberately been attacked. Why was another matter, and she couldn't care about that now. He was most likely attacked for disobeying the Fire Nation, and every one disobeying them was a friend of hers. And this new 'friend' was in desperate need of help.

* * *

His back ached. Badly. That was the first thing he noticed once he had regained consciousness, plus the fact his mask had been removed. What had happened? He vaguely remembered refusing to attack innocent children, trying to bring them into safety and hearing the admiral calling that he was 'begging for a punishment'. Then, he had bumped into a Water Tribe girl – he'd barely seen her because of his mask, though, that blurred his vision. The next moment, he'd felt a burning sting in his back… So he had been punished for his endeavour to rescue the innocent ones. He hated war now more than ever.

Slowly, he opened his eyes now, a bit disorientated. It was rather cold, though he was inside a house. On the other hand, what could he have expected from the North Pole? He was lying on his chest on a warm pelt. Half-naked. What on earth was going on?! He moaned a bit out of pain, felt around him to find the top part of his uniform and his mask. Just when he thought he'd found them, a hand was laid on his.

"Sorry about that." It was a female voice, with a high sound. The owner couldn't be too old. "I had to take off parts of your uniform to get to your wounds. They're pretty bad, so you'd better lie still like that. I'm trying to Heal you as well as I can."

Heal – so she was Water Tribe. Then again, what other female could he have expected? He sighed and decided to lie still as she'd more or less commanded. He shivered as something cold touched his burnt back. "Cold…"

"It should ease the pain," the voice smiled, "it's water I use for Healing. I'm not the best Healer of the Tribe, but the others are already… helping our own men."

For some reason, he didn't entirely believe her – her little hesitations told him something else than what she was saying. As if she was the only one _willing_, not available, to help him. "Thank you," he muttered. He wondered if a simple 'thank you' would be enough to express his true gratitude. If she hadn't helped him, he'd have probably frozen to death by now.

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, the pain in his back decreased, and it wasn't so hard anymore to withstand.

"You could try lying on your side or back by now," the voice said. "The wound isn't gone yet, but I think it's more endurable now."

He carefully nodded, rolled on his back now. She was right, it had become easier to endure, but it was still uncomfortable. He looked up now, to finally see the face of his saviour for the first time. She was indeed a Water Tribe girl, obviously, with eyes the colour of the sea, a tan skin and long, brown hair, bearing a blue hair band that matched with the rest of her clothes. She couldn't be older than sixteen – he knew enough about the Water Tribe to know that the girls were betrothed at age sixteen. And this girl bore no sign of engagement or marriage.

He suddenly noticed she was staring at him, and she blushed as she saw his inquiring look.

"Sorry, but this is the first time I get to see your face," she confessed, "I rolled you on your chest before taking of your mask, you see. My, you're young… Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Rong," he introduced himself. It was remarkably easy to speak – maybe due to the fact his mask had been removed.

The girl smiled. "That's a nice name," she now remarked. "Mine is Sakari."

He smiled back at her, but he was still not so sure about this situation. "You're Water Tribe… why did you save me, a firebender?"

"Because I saw you weren't hit by accident," she simply said, "and you tried to save our children. I just can't get myself to believe you're behind this war, firebender or not."

His jaw nearly dropped as she'd told him that. The naivety! She was lucky this time it was him and not someone who'd take advantage of this situation. "You shouldn't suggest that," he thus commented, "that's dangerous."

"But I'm right about you, aren't I?"

He couldn't help himself but smile as he saw her confident, radiating face. She was naïve, but cute too. "Well, yes. But you have to take my word for it, as I have no way to proof it."

"I believe you," she smiled. She now stood up, grabbed a blanket and covered him with it. "There. I take it you're not used to the cold climate here, being Fire Nation and all."

"Thank you…"

She stood up again and walked to the door now, an idea he certainly didn't like.

"Are you leaving?"

"I must meet with the leaders of my Tribe," she said, "I will back as soon as possible. I promise."

He watched her leaving, confused yet relieved. He felt she was sincere, and that he was safe in her care. He wondered though why she was summoned to meet with the leaders. Had she gotten into trouble because of him? She seemed to be impulsive enough to him to accomplish that. It flattered him, but he was worried about her too. Strange, actually, as he barely knew her.

* * *

"Sakari, you know women from the Water Tribe aren't allowed to learn the art of waterbending in the use of fights."

"I know, sir," Sakari whispered, bending her head in shame.

"Then how come you showed such an advanced skill level of waterbending against the Fire Nation's warriors?"

She looked up in surprise: since when were girls complimented with their skills in waterbending if those weren't used for Healing? She answered in truth, but a bit hesitant. Who knew, this could be a trick. "I watched the male waterbenders and taught myself their techniques." It was a quick, yet sincere answer, and she surely hadn't expected the uproar that she suddenly found around her.

"What? She taught _herself_?"

"How is that possible?"

She was surprised, she couldn't hide it. Why were people so astonished by the fact no-one except for her herself had been teaching her? What did they expect, one of the men betraying their Tribe's customs? The only man who might have been doing that would be her father – it wasn't exactly a secret he was very fond of his only child. But everyone also knew how loyal he was to the Tribe's customs.

Eventually, the leader of the Tribe stood up and looked at her. "For once, we will forgive your behaviour because you've earned our respect for it," he said, calmly. "But I will remind you of it that this was the first and the last time you could act like you wish. The next time, punishment will follow."

Walking back to her home, she breathed out, completely relieved. That didn't go half as bad as she'd expected! She whirled her braid around her finger, the braid she'd quickly made with her hair before going to the Tribe's leaders. Girls never wore their hair down, but Sakari liked it that way and loosened her braid whenever she had the chance to. And now she had enough chances, since no-one at home would see her. Sadly, her father had gotten injured in fighting, and he was in the sickbay now. Her mother was there too, taking care of him. She was all alone, but was perfectly able to handle it.

She had arrived at her house now, but just before she opened the door, she let go of it in shock. That was true, Rong was still in there! She could only pray and hope no-one had gotten here before her…

She chuckled softly as she'd opened the door. Rong was still there, unharmed, and fast asleep.

* * *

He woke up as he heard the door shrieking: someone was entering. He rose and looked up, but it was luckily merely Sakari. Merely… Who was he kidding? He had fallen asleep thinking of her, despite of the fact he didn't even know who she truly was. She was almost the opposite of what he'd always been told people of the Water Tribe were like, and therefore, she intrigued him.

Big was his surprise as she entered the room with her hair braided. He'd liked her with her hair down and just a hair band to keep it together. "What did you do to your hair?" was thus the first question he asked as soon as she'd reached him.

She smiled. "I braided it, can't you see?"

"Of course, but why?" he couldn't help asking. He couldn't imagine someone on her way out told her to braid it and that she actually listened to that.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I can't show up in front of the leaders with my hair down, that'd be way too informal."

He looked up at her face, smiled. "I don't mind looking at you with your hair down, you know."

It was, as he'd expected, a sign for her to immediately reach to her hair and untie her braid. She sighed happily. "I'm glad. My head aches whenever I braid it because my hair is so heavy."

"I noticed that." He could slam himself against his head by now. They were talking about nothing, while she saved his life out there – he never even thanked her for it. "Sakari, listen, I…"

"Yes, I know – your back, right?" she said, "I was just about to continue healing it, don't worry."

Before he could protest, she'd rolled him on his chest and in seconds, he felt the cold water on his burn mark again. Was she really that naïve to think all he cared about was to get rid of his pain, or did she just refuse to be thanked? Or was it something else? "Sakari, that wasn't what I was about to say."

"I know that, too." Her voice was suddenly more distant, and she was losing control of the water for a moment – it splashed on his back before she quickly put it up again. "But I don't need to hear how much I'm protesting against my Tribe's customs, okay? I hear that all the time, from everyone… I can't help it I don't want to accept certain things, it's not like I'm against every single custom!" She was about to lose self-control, and her voice was trembling as she continued. "I'm proud to be Water Tribe, I'm proud of our customs! It's just that I don't like each and every aspect of it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!"

A warm drop fell on his back, confirming his suspicions that she wasn't angry, but saddened. He quickly turned over and discovered she was indeed in tears, yet trying to hide them. "I wasn't going to say that, either," he gently remarked, grabbing her hand. To his surprise, she didn't resist by tearing herself loose from him. "Sakari, I was going to thank you for saving my life, that was all. I was certainly not going to lecture you about your rebelling against those customs, whether I think you are or not."

She dried her tears, looked up at him. "I'm glad," she now whispered, "and… any time." It took her a while to dry all her tears, but then, she could smile again. "Any time, Rong."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Stop that!"

"I'm sorry!" Sakari called, fastening the bandage on his back. She'd been Healing Rong for two days and a half in a row now, and she'd done everything she could. Now was the time to let his body do the rest of it, and she had given him a bandage for support. But it had to be tight, and Rong certainly didn't like all her pulling on a painful place like his back was now. "There, all settled now. Do you think you'll be able to bear wearing your uniform?"

He looked troubled, eventually shook his head.

She smiled at him, then opened a closet that contained clothes of her family. "You can borrow something of my father, then. If you don't mind looking like you're Water Tribe, of course?"

"Oh, I'll deal with it, don't worry."

She chuckled, went through all possible outfits. Rong was kind to her, and it wasn'tf hard for her to accept him as a kind of roommate for the time being. He was the listening type, which was good, since she was more of the talking type. He asked her questions about her Tribe, relevant or not, and she answered them. Those last three days had speeded by, with the two of them just talking. Sakari was Healing him in the mean while all along.

Sunken away in thoughts, she sought out some clothes for him to wear and handed them over to him. "You can dress in the bedroom. I promise I won't come around to peek!"

He smiled, pressed his finger against her nose. "You better not!" Then he left with the clothes to the master bedroom Sakari had directed him to. She suddenly felt how her blood rushed to her cheeks, and quickly bent her head to hide her blush. What was this all about? True, it _was_ the first time he actually touched her, in contrast to the other way around. As a Healer, she couldn't prevent touching him from time to time. Maybe that was it, then – she didn't have to look for another reason. Rong was friendly to her, but that was simply it. Wasn't it?

He had returned now, and had exchanged his warrior clothes for commonly used Water Tribe clothes. He wasn't very tall, but then again, her father wasn't either, so his clothes suited him perfectly.

"How do I look?"

"If your skin was a bit tanner, I'd say you were Water Tribe without a doubt," she smiled, taking over his original clothes from him. "It really suits you."

"Do you think I could go outside like this?"

She looked up in surprise. "You want to go out? It seems rather risky, if you ask me," she remarked, "I mean, with the Fire Nation around and everyone being suspicious…"

"The Fire Nation…" He pondered for a moment, then looked up. "Sakari, what are they doing? The plan was to occupy your Tribe… please don't tell me they managed to do so."

She was silent for a long while. It was true; the Fire Nation had had some victories over the Water Tribe during the past few days. She had to be careful whenever she left the house, and thus, she did that as little as she could. She feared that in no time, the Tribe would really have been occupied by the Fire Nation army. "They… they're on their way," she carefully said, "I don't know how much longer it'll take, honestly."

Rong sighed deeply, looked at her. "I'm so sorry, Sakari. I wish I didn't belong to them, but unfortunately, I was born as a firebender." He seemed to feel really guilty about it, and it got kind of uncomfortable to talk about it, especially for him. "I… I just…"

"It's not your fault," she smiled, "you didn't choose for it, so no-one is blaming you. But still… I'd be careful if I were you and going out. The Northern Water Tribe is big, but around here, everyone knows each other. Taken the facts you don't look familiar and your skin is pale, people will probably look at you with suspicion. Not to mention firebenders who might recognize you…"

At that point, he interrupted her. "Oh, I don't think so," he quickly said, "most of them have only seen me with my mask. They can only recognize me by my voice."

"But still," Sakari stuck to her point, "be careful when you go out. At least take me with you."

He smiled at her, and then, he grabbed her hand all of a sudden. "Don't worry – I'm not going anywhere without you, Sakari. You saved my life."

She blushed, but didn't take her hand away just yet. "I actually said that because I can help you around here… I mean, I don't suppose you're familiar with our customs and all that…"

"You thought I didn't know?" He smiled again, and she felt how her cheeks became even redder.

He seemed to have changed; he had loosened up ever since she had found him and taken care of him, three days ago now. Back then, he had seemed rather timid to her, but now, he smiled and talked a lot more than before. As if he had become more relaxed around her… And therefore, she wasn't willing to introduce him to others just yet. She wanted to get to know him a bit better first, find out who he really was. It wasn't just protecting him from her Tribe's people; it was selfish of her to keep him for herself.

"Sakari? You seem troubled," he suddenly remarked.

She looked up, only to find out he was giving her a closer look. "I… I feel selfish," she then whispered. "I want to keep you here, not just because I fear for your life when you go out. I also want to talk to you…"

His response wasn't exactly what she'd expected. Instead of being bothered, Rong simply chuckled. "For some reason, I find that flattering," he eventually remarked, "so you want to know me better, is that it?"

She nodded, afraid to look up and find out he was making fun of her.

But in the end, he wasn't. "Fine. Ask me whatever you want to know, then."

* * *

This time, the listening- and talking-roles were reversed. Rong was the one talking this time, and Sakari quietly listened as he told the story that was his life. He told her how he first found out that he was born as a firebender, despite of the fact he was born in the autumn instead of summer like most firebenders. Life then became rough, when he had to learn how to firebend in order to fight with it later. He disgusted his own powers, and wished for many times he had been born as an ordinary boy. In the end, he was forced to join the army at age sixteen – more than half a year ago now. And he hated it. He hated it to destroy other people's villages, other people's treasures and make their lives hell.

Her heart ached for him as he told her his story. "I had no idea," she eventually whispered, "of course I knew not all Fire Nation people agreed on the war, but that they'd force you…"

"Yeah, well, they need all firebenders they can get," Rong sighed. He was silent for a while, pondering a bit. And then, he suddenly looked up at her. "Hey, Sakari? Can I please go out now?" he said. "Not to meet other people – I just need some fresh air."

"Oh… yes, of course," Sakari nodded. She stood up, took his hand and pulled him up with a smile. "Let's go, then."

* * *

Sakari's expectations came true: people wanted to meet with them. Once they'd gotten outside, Sedna and her fiancé walked towards them as soon as they spotted them.

"Sakari! Haven't seen you in a while," Sedna smiled, running to her best friend and quickly hugging her. "We thought you had caught flu or something, so we were just on our way to pay you a visit!" She then noticed Rong, and gave him a close and critical look. "And who might you be?"

"Oh, this is Rong, a friend of mine," Sakari quickly said with a nervous smile.

Sedna glared at her, frowned her brows. "Hm? A _friend_, huh?"

"Yes, Sedna. A _friend_."

Rong was introducing himself in the mean while to Sedna's fiancé, with whom he shared a close resemblance in looks – except for the facts Rong was shorter and, of course, a lot paler.

Sedna gave the both of them a quick glance, then pushed both of them out of the way. "You two can go and make friends; I have to talk with Sakari here." She dragged Sakari with her to a corner, looked into her eyes. "I want the truth now," she softly said, "is it true what they say? Have you been using your bending skills in public to fight?"

"I have been excused for that," Sakari hastily said, but her friend wasn't satisfied yet.

"And what is it about this Rong?"

"I told you, he's a friend!"

"Oh, I do believe _that_," Sedna gritted, "I just can't believe he's Water Tribe, no matter what he might look like. Sakari… are those wild rumours also true?"

"I haven't been outside for three days; I haven't heard any rumours," Sakari reminded her. She couldn't prevent a blush running to her cheeks, and she could only hope for Sedna not to notice it.

But Sedna's eye sight was sharper than she wished. "You're blushing! You don't even know what they say, and yet, you're ashamed! So it's true, then? Sakari, this Rong…" She bent to her ear and whispered as softly as she could: "is he Fire Nation as they say? Did you save the life of a firebender?"

Sakari tore herself loose immediately. No… no! Had the word spread _that_ fast? It was a miracle her mother hadn't shown up yet to scold her and was still at the sickbay!

"Sakari?"

She couldn't respond, knew that every answer would be the wrong one. Denying it? No way, Sedna had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. She'd notice she was lying immediately. And confessing was probably the dumbest thing she could do. And thus, Sakari remained silent, until Sedna finally let her go.

"So it is," she concluded with a sigh. "Well, then. If someone goes checking on you, they won't know it from me."

"Eh?"

"I'll keep it quiet," Sedna clarified, "but I hope you do realize this was a pretty stupid thing to do. Listen – get rid of him as soon as you can, okay? And never meddle in with Fire Nation again. It's for your own good."

Sakari nodded now, even though she didn't agree. She knew this was the best she could expect from her friend. "Yes, I understand. Thank you, Sedna…" They quickly embraced each other, until someone behind them carefully coughed.

"Sakari? Your friend wanted to return to you," Sedna's fiancé remarked.

She looked up shyly, noticed how Rong gave her one of his smiles.

"I told you; I only wanted to get out to get some fresh air. Have you chatted enough with your friend? Otherwise I'll leave you two alone."

"No, we're done here," Sedna grinned, quickly clinging to her fiancé. She gave Sakari a look, then nodded into Rong's direction. "He _is_ pretty handsome, though," she softly whispered, "if I wasn't already engaged…"

"Hey, I heard that!" her fiancé remarked.

Sedna chuckled and kissed his cheek, before she dragged him with her in a not too subtle way.

Sakari and Rong shared a look or two, and then both laughed simultaneously.

* * *

"So those were your best friend and her fiancé," Rong remarked, back at Sakari's home again, "what about you?"

"How do you mean?" She gave him a cup of hot tea, then took place next to him on a soft fur on the ground.

"Well, girls from the Water Tribe are betrothed, aren't they?"

"I'm too young for that; I'm not sixteen yet," Sakari remarked.

"Yeah, I know that. But still… aren't you popular around here?"

She laughed at the idea right that instant. "Me, popular?" she chuckled, "no way! Guys don't want someone like me. I'm way too… I don't know what I am, but I'm too much of it. Probably too independent, even though I can't agree with that. It's just that I find it ridiculous that women aren't allowed to use waterbending for anything else than Healing."

"And you're right," Rong now remarked, "in times like these, they should be happy to have not only the men to help in fights!"

"Well, it doesn't suit the picture," Sakari sighed, nipping her own tea. "And that means end of discussion here." She suddenly realized something, and choked on her slightly too hot tea. Discussion – one of the many discussions she had with her parents. She hadn't visited them in three days! What would they think of her?

"Are you okay?" Rong asked with a worried face, softly tapping her back.

She nodded, put away her tea. "Yes, but… I forgot to visit my parents," she said, standing up. "I hope they'll forgive me, I'll just have to say I caught flu then… How could I forget about them!" She looked at Rong, asked to be excused with merely a look.

And he nodded. "It's okay, go see them," he smiled, "don't apologize to me, I shouldn't even be here!"

"I brought you here as a guest," was her opinion, "of course I should apologize to you!"

But he stood up now, too, grabbed her hand and dragged her to the door. "There. And now go to your parents, okay?" he almost demanded, "don't worry about me, I'll stay inside."

She looked up in shock, realized something now. She hadn't told him! "That's right," she now said, "Rong, there are rumours…"

"Sedna's fiancé told me about them," Rong nodded, "don't worry, I'll be alert. And as soon as my back has healed, I'll leave. I'm not going to bring you in unnecessary trouble."

"It's no trouble to have you here," she softly said.

He simply smiled, opened the door for her. "Now, go!"

* * *

"So you finally decided to show yourself here?" was the first thing Sakari heard as she entered the sickbay.

She sighed, realizing that voice belonged to her mother. "I'm sorry, mother," she said dutifully, "I had caught flu, so I wasn't able to come earlier."

Her mother was reluctant to believe it, but she didn't get an opportunity to show it as her father looked up happily to his daughter. "Sakari! How are you, my dear? I'm glad to see you're back to health after that flu."

She blushed of happiness as she embraced her father. Despite of his loyalty to the Tribe's customs, she still loved him more than anyone else, even her mother. Her mother wasn't as understanding as he was, and she still wondered sometimes what made her father choose her mother. "Hello, father," she smiled, kneeling next to his bed. "How are you doing? I heard you were injured…"

"It's nothing, don't worry about me," her father assured her, but her mother gave him an angry look.

"Nothing! You call a burn mark covering your entire chest _nothing_?"

"It is almost healed by now," he assured her, "thanks to you. Will you now please give me some time alone with our daughter? It's been a while since the two of us had a good talk."

Her mother didn't protest and indeed left the two of them alone. Suitable to him or not, she was loyal to Sakari's father and respected him.

Her father now looked at her, gave her a critical look. "Something about you seems different today, Sakari. Look at me… It's true, isn't it? Your mother kept denying it, but it's true. You fought against the Fire Nation, and you didn't even do half bad."

She shyly blushed, then nodded. "Yes, I used my bending skills against them… I'm sorry, dad, I just couldn't watch them trying to attack the children, and…"

"Hey, I never blamed you for it," he smiled, "I'm actually pretty proud of you, but don't let that word out, okay?"

She chuckled, but nodded. She hadn't expected such a reaction from her father, but was glad that this was it.

Yet it wasn't all there was to say, and she should have known. Her father gave her a serious look, cleared his throat. "Sakari… There are other rumours. Did you know about those?"

"Ehm…" That was her only reaction, as she didn't know how to respond to that. Of course she knew, Sedna had warned her not too long ago. But how would her father take it if he found out those rumours were true? He wouldn't trust Rong with her, that was for sure…

Luckily for her, she didn't have to answer just yet. Her mother had returned, with the message she had to get back to Healing her husband and that Sakari should go home again. She was used to receiving that kind of orders: she was almost sixteen after all, she had to get used to taking care of herself. Her father certainly didn't like it when she stood up and left the sickbay, but for once, that wasn't of her concern.

* * *

Walking back home, she noticed she'd forgotten to braid her hair before going out.

* * *

"Hi," she softly said, as she entered her house again.

Rong immediately walked to her, visibly happy to have some company. "Welcome home! How did it go? You don't look too happy, has something happened?"

She smiled at his worried face, shook her head. "No, but it was a close call," she said. "Rumours spread even faster than I could have imagined. Even my father has heard about you, while he's in the sickbay at the moment."

"I'm sorry I'm getting you into so much trou…"

"Ssh." She quickly laid her fingers against his lips, shook her head once more. "No, Rong, you don't mean trouble to me. If you did, why would I have saved your life in the first place?"

He didn't have an answer to that, and she was satisfied.

She now took place behind him, gently laid her hands against his back. She felt how he shivered. "It still hurts, doesn't it?"

"Not as much as it used to."

"But it's still not cured." She walked around him, looked into his eyes. "Take of your shirt, please."

"Excuse me?"

She sniggered as she saw his astounded face. "Hey, I'm not such a great Healer that I can Heal through your clothes! I'm sorry, but you'll have to take your shirt off in order for me to take care of it."

He understood her now, and did as she said.

She quickly turned around now, too embarrassed to look at him. She was a girl; she wasn't supposed to look how a man undressed himself. Then again, hadn't she first taken off his uniform that first day? Thinking about that, it seemed a lot longer ago than just three days. Maybe because she and Rong were so friendly with one another.

At that point, Rong had taken off his shirt, and she noticed how the burn mark on his back had shrunk in size. Luckily, but it still wasn't gone yet and seemed pretty painful. She opened her bottle of water and carefully led the water to the mark. Again, he shivered, but he didn't protest as she began her Healing. It had almost become part of daily routine to Heal him, but she didn't mind. It was nice to do something for him.

"You know, I still don't understand why you were so reckless and saved me that day," Rong suddenly remarked.

"Quit saying that," she sighed, "I trusted you weren't an average firebender back then, and I still believe so. Don't make me think otherwise."

He quickly shut up after that, while Sakari continued healing his back.

* * *

The next morning, she awoke on the couch, and she looked up in surprise as soon as she was awake enough. "What…"

"You fell asleep against me," Rong smiled. He had appeared behind her, knelt next to her. "I wondered why you would lean against me for several minutes, but then I turned around – you were sound asleep."

Sakari quickly rose and hid her face in her hands. How embarrassing! But taken the fact she couldn't remember going to bed, Rong was probably right. How did that happen? She hadn't been _that_ tired!

"Healing probably took a lot of your strength," Rong simply remarked, "it's no surprise you were tired after three hours in a row."

"Three hours? Has it been that long?" She shook her head in confusion. She had almost forgotten half the day!

"Yeah, I didn't realize it either until I put you on the couch," Rong said, "but it doesn't matter that much, does it? Or did you have any appointments you missed out because of that?"

She shook her head, but the confusion hadn't left. It had only seemed five minutes to her, no matter what.

* * *

"Good night, Rong."

"Good night." He laid himself down on the fur on the floor. She had offered him her own bed because that was more comfortable for his back, but he'd rejected that offer. 'I'm just a temporary guest; I'm not taking over your bedroom!'

She'd tried to explain him why she offered him so, but he still refused. And thus, she lay on her own bed that night.

She felt guilty. Rong had been staying at her place for over two weeks now, while he could have been out after a week. She just hadn't done her utmost best on Healing him. It was a dilemma. She knew it was dangerous to have him stay with her for so long, and she had been very lucky her parents were still at the sickbay. Her father had caught flu and was therefore only slowly healing, and her mother stuck with him. She visited them every day to prevent looking suspicious. And Rong… If she would Heal him quickly, he had to go away just as quickly. And if she didn't, he could stay with her for a while – making it only harder for her to prepare for their farewell. Why, why had he been born to the Fire Nation? If he was Water Tribe, there wouldn't have been a problem standing in between them. But now… she had to keep it a secret she was helping him, she couldn't talk with anyone about him, not even with Sedna. Sedna had made her swear to keep her out of it, so that she wouldn't be blamed if it went wrong. Sakari had understood her and sworn so, but it didn't make her happy she got to protect her friend like that. She and Sedna were best friends, they could talk about anything. But now? It felt as if there were secrets between them, and it almost tore her heart apart.

But, she now realized, it'd rip her heart into small pieces if she hadn't saved Rong that day. With a blush, she hid her face in her pillow. Why did life have to be so complicated?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Sakari?" He looked at her, noticed she was still asleep and slightly smiled. He didn't blame her, after all the energy she had spent to Heal him. Then again, why did it take her three full weeks now to Heal one burn mark? Not that he minded. He had promised Sakari he'd get out as soon as Healing was no longer necessary, but in all honesty, he'd rather stay with her for another while.

Without paying much attention to his action, he softly stroked her face. She was so peaceful when she was asleep – he liked it to see her like that. She was tensed whenever she was awake, no matter how badly she tried to hide it. He was afraid it was his fault. If it wasn't for his presence, she'd probably have nothing to worry about. He felt guilty – he had to go, but he wanted to stay. Why did it have to be so complicated? If he had been Water Tribe, or if she had been Fire Nation, there would have been nothing secret about their friendship. Or even simpler – if there hadn't been a war, it would have been okay already. But now…

At that moment, Sakari opened her eyes and looked up drowsily. "Rong? Were you just touching my face?"

He quickly let go of her, but then he noticed the smile on her face.

"I don't mind. I just wanted to make sure, because I wouldn't like any sort of bug wandering over my face."

He smiled back at her, shook his head. "No, it wasn't a bug."

She now rose, looked into his eyes. "What's the time? Did I oversleep or something?"

"I have no idea – all I know is that I was up before the sun rose," he said, truthfully. Actually, he was still sleepy. He'd fallen asleep past midnight, and had awoken only a few hours later. But then again – in his life as a firebender, he'd had multiple sleepless nights. Then, he had been worrying over his fate. Now, those worries were about Sakari's fate – a change, but not a better one.

"Do you always wake up that early?" she now asked, "because I can't remember awaking earlier than you."

"Maybe you just sleep late," he joked. He felt his heart throbbing faster as she chuckled at that. She was so cute, being careless like that. Why wasn't she like that more of… Before he finished the sentence in his head, he already knew the answer. Because he brought trouble over her. He wanted to apologize, but he knew she'd just wave it away. For some reason, that hurt more than if she'd just told him he was a pain.

She was now busy making her bed, and he simply looked at her while she shook out her pillow. "Hey, Sakari?" he then said, "can't you tell me when approximately I'm healed enough to leave?"

He hadn't expected her to look up with such a sad face, and he felt guilty as he noticed he enjoyed it. She wasn't happy to see him leaving, he could conclude that now. Why was he so happy about that?

"I'm not sure," she answered his question, "it might take another week. I'm… not that good in Healing," she confessed, "but I'll have to hurry, since my parents are going to come home very soon now."

He understood it. Of course he did, but it didn't make him feel better. So in the upcoming week, he had to leave… Leave the girl behind that was his only friend at this point.

He'd never had many friends in his life, especially not ever since he more or less rejected his firebending. He had to use it after all, but people certainly didn't like the fact he was reluctant to practise and fight for his Nation.

Even in childhood, he hadn't been very popular. He showed no interest in the war, like all the other kids, who imitated the big battles at the kindergarten. He never joined them, mainly because he simply detested the war. And thus, he locked himself out of the group. He didn't really mind back then, but nowadays, he sometimes felt lonely. No-one ever bothered to come near him, as if disagreeing with the war was some kind of contagious disease. Not to mention the behaviour of his parents. They kept pushing him to fight, and were incredibly proud as he joined the navy – which was certainly not out of his own free will. But the conveniently left out that part whenever they bragged about him to their friends. The only reason he was glad to join the navy, was because he wouldn't be with his parents for a while.

He sighed, then noticed he was still looking at Sakari as she was busy with her daily stuff: opening the curtains, cleaning up her room a bit… He liked looking at her, he noticed that more and more every day. He liked being with her, talking with her or listening to her whenever she wanted to talk… Saying goodbye to her would be hard for him, if not impossible. Why did he have to become so attached to her in those three weeks? He didn't even know if she felt the same bond between them as he did. Was it still merely friendship he felt for her? He couldn't say so anymore in certainty as he used to.

"Rong, you're staring at me."

Her smiling voice startled him and awoke him from his thoughts. He noticed how he slightly blushed as he answered her. "Well, what else should I do?"

"Making your own bed, for example?" she simply suggested.

Her answer was that simple that he couldn't believe he hadn't done so already. He was mocking about being a burden to her, and he wasn't even doing anything to give her less work! He quickly made his bed as she'd asked him to, shook up his pillow and put away the pair of pyjamas he'd worn that night. Those were his own, but he wasn't too comfortable wearing Fire Nation clothing here, no matter if it was nightwear or not.

Staying in a Water Tribe wasn't as odd as he thought it'd be, even though he couldn't really judge. After all, he hardly got out. But from time to time, he joined Sakari outside and met with her friends, mostly Sedna and her fiancé. Rong had built a good friendship with this fiancé, and talked with him whenever Sakari and Sedna wanted to talk together. He had explained him about most of the marriage customs of the Water Tribe, and so, Rong now understood why Sedna seemed to treasure her necklace so much. But they had been lucky, because marriage out of love wasn't very common in the Water Tribe.

It hurt his heart whenever he thought about Sakari turning sixteen and being of marriage age in a while. He wouldn't be there anymore, she'd be betrothed to someone else… For some reason, the jealousy burnt in him with fierce passion at the mere thought of that. Sometimes, his mind came up with an explanation, but he refused to accept it and denied it with whole his being. It couldn't be, and above all, it _shouldn't_ be true.

* * *

Every day after that, Rong could only think about the approaching separation. His back was healing quickly now, and it would be a matter of a couple of more days before he'd be healed enough to leave without needing any medical help. He caught himself thinking about injuring himself, only so that he could stay a bit longer. It was a sick thought, he realized so, but it was the only way he could stay with Sakari. He hated it that he needed an excuse for it, but with the ongoing war, there was no other solution for the two of them.

Sakari wasn't too cheerful either during those last days. She'd often glance at the floor, or at a random object in the room or outside, depending on their location. Then, she wouldn't say a word and sigh from time to time in despair. He could only hope her gloomy mood had the same cause as his.

All in all, the last week Rong spent at Sakari's house wasn't exactly the happiest one.

* * *

"I… I think you're ready to leave," Sakari remarked the next day. She'd just finished her daily Healing on his back, and as he feared, the wound was gone now. Only a slight, barely visible scar he himself hardly spotted in the mirror reminded of the burn mark that used to be there. Even though it'd taken her a long time, Sakari had done a great job at Healing him. She really _was_ great – and he wasn't just thinking of her Healing abilities when he stated that.

He couldn't look at her in a normal way anymore. She made his heart pounding quicker than ever whenever he looked at her, whenever she smiled at him or just said something. It wasn't friendship anymore to him, and he couldn't deny it anymore. But he decided to keep it quiet against Sakari – he was afraid saying goodbye would be either too difficult or too painful. That all depended on her returning his feelings for her or not. And in fact, he didn't want to know. If she returned them, he wasn't sure if he was able to leave her anymore. And if she didn't, it'd break his heart for certain. "Sakari, I don't want to go."

"I don't want you to go, either," she softly confessed, "so if you could… stay at least this last night?"

She really didn't have to use that begging look in her eyes to make him accept her invitation.

* * *

That night was different from the ones before. Sakari was reluctant to say him goodnight, and eventually decided to drag her sheets and pillow into the living room where he was lying. It was strange to him, to be able to look into her eyes even though it was already night. The only other times he'd looked at her at night, was when she'd been fast asleep. Simply the mere thought of what he'd whispered to her back then made him blush already. She couldn't see it, fortunately, as the darkness hid his face. But bright moonlight lit her face, and he could see _her_ perfectly well.

"What will you do once you've left?" she suddenly asked in a whispered voice.

He closed his eyes, deeply sighed. He'd already expected that question, but he'd been avoiding it most of the time. In fact, he hadn't found a satisfying answer just yet, and he refused to think about it. However, he had to think about it now. "I… I think I have no choice but return to the navy," he eventually said. It hurt him to say it, especially as he saw Sakari's face falling quickly.

"Oh…"

Even though it was just one little word without much meaning, it stabbed his heart as a knife. "It is not my wish to, Sakari. I hope you realize that."

"Of… of course…" She hid her face in her pillow for reasons he couldn't pierce through.

"Sakari, I want you to listen to what I'll be telling you now." He took a deep breath, because it wasn't the easiest thing to say. The opposite.

"I'm listening."

"Good. Well, once I've returned… And you know I have no choice, because they'd not accept it if I retired," he repeated, just to make sure he wasn't misunderstood by her. "Anyway, once I've returned, there's no way I can say I've become great friends with a girl from the Water Tribe. You understand that, don't you?"

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Rong," she said, in a surprisingly harsh voice. "We've been talking about that practically all the time. You don't have to rub it in that we can't be together because we're parted by our roots!"

She was angered, obviously, and he couldn't blame her for it. He tried to ignore that for now, as he hadn't come to tell what he meant to tell. And that would upset her even more. "I'll have to say something else than that a friend helped me out," he continued. "And I think there's only one way to keep you out of range."

"Spit it out." She wasn't very willing to listen to him anymore, but he had to trust on it she still would after he'd finished what he'd begun.

"Sakari, I'll have to say I've taken advantage of you. And you can imagine that word will spread out – the Fire Nation will love stories about naïve Water Tribe girls."

Her face was still hidden in her pillow, and since she didn't respond, he couldn't figure if she was very mad at him for saying so or not.

"I never thought you were naïve, Sakari, you have to know that," he quickly added, "in fact, I thought it was incredibly sweet of you to save me and assume I wasn't as bad as most firebenders, and…"

She suddenly rose from her pillow, and before he realized what was going on, she'd stepped out of his bed, had clung to his sheets and had laid her face against his chest.

He felt how his heart beat rose quicker than ever, and he tried his best not to let it show.

Sakari in the mean while suddenly sobbed, and looked up at him with the saddest face he'd ever seen on her. "I don't care what they'll say about me once you're gone," she whinged, closing her eyes in an attempt to hold back her tears. "For all I care they say I'm a three-headed dog or something, I couldn't care less! All I care about now is that I can't let you go, Rong! I just can't, even though I know I should!" She now failed in holding back her tears, and they quickly ran down her cheeks.

He couldn't help himself – he embraced her, as tightly as he possibly could. And she didn't protest. He felt how she crept closer to him and he noticed how her arms carefully wrapped themselves around his shoulders. She wasn't exactly making it easier for him to let her go, but the fact he could finally hold her in his arms softened that pain a bit.

* * *

He had no idea how long they'd been sitting like that. All he knew was that Sakari suddenly felt heavily in his arms, and when he looked at her, he noticed she'd fallen asleep. He smiled, and carefully put her arms off his shoulders. He didn't want to let go of her just yet, but eventually, he managed to put her back into her own bed and tucked her in.

It took a long time for him to finally fall asleep that night.

When he woke up the next morning, he noticed the sun hadn't set yet. He was early again.

He looked at Sakari, who was still fast asleep. Thankfully, he noticed how her sad frown of the previous evening had finally disappeared. Now, a slight smile was dancing on her lips. It made him smile too, and he quickly rose and walked to her. He bent to her and softly stroked her face. It was so hard to believe this was their last day together… But he knew that any more days here would raise suspicions in both the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation. If there was one goal in his life for now, it was to keep at least Sakari out of trouble.

And still, he pondered. Why wasn't there a way to maintain the bond between them? Why did this have to be their final goodbye? At that moment, something passed his mind. Of course! There _was_ something to preserve their bond, even though it was a bit of drastic. But it was a way, and he had to try it, no matter what.

Softly, he dressed himself and wrote a little note to Sakari in case he'd still be gone once she'd awoken. He put the note on his – neatly made – bed, and carefully left the house.

* * *

The carving was the hardest job to do. Sedna's fiancé certainly hadn't liked it Rong had awoken him in order to teach him how to do it, but he'd eventually given in as Rong kept insisting.

He now found himself in a small cave near Sakari's house, with a navy blue choker and a blue stone pendant. Here, he was likely to be left alone, making it easier to carve the stone in a short amount of time. He actually found this custom of the Water Tribe a very beautiful one, but it was hard to perform it in the right way, especially for him, an outsider. Then again, he wanted to do it no matter what. Sakari wasn't fond of a number her Tribe's customs, Here,

but he knew she liked this one as much as he did.

He hadn't chosen the easiest pattern for the stone, he couldn't deny that. But then again, it was the only thing that would represent their relationship for real. And after all, that was his aiming.

* * *

With the choker in his pocket, he went back to Sakari's house. She wasn't asleep anymore; he noticed that as soon as he'd opened the door.

"Rong!" she shouted, as soon as she noticed him. She was fully dressed and had a worried look on her face, which had suddenly turned angry. "Where were you? What were you thinking, just leaving me alone like that?! I hope you do realize I care enough about you to want to see you off! I thought you'd already left, I thought you'd just abandoned me…"

"Of course not! You know me better than that," he quickly said, grabbing her hands. "Sakari, after last night, do you really think I could leave you without a word? And by the way, I left you a note saying I'd be back as soon as possible."

"I thought you meant 'after the war's over' with that," she said, with a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "Forgive me, Rong, but I really thought so…" The harsh, angry expression disappeared from her eyes, and they suddenly looked as if they'd broken into thousands of pieces. "I'm so sorry, I should have known you would never do something like that…" She was on the edge of crying, but she held herself back. As if she was afraid to be who she was in front of him.

He'd never expected he'd once like to see her shedding tears. "Sakari, don't be afraid to cry…" He didn't have to say that twice. Almost immediately, Sakari burst out in tears, and he quickly handed her a hand-kerchief.

It took her a while to calm down and for her to be able to talk in a normal way again. "I'm sorry, I just… I just get so sad whenever I think about you leaving," she then confessed, "I completely freaked out when I thought you had left without saying goodbye…"

"How many times do I have to tell you I couldn't do something like that?"

"I know," she sobbed, but with a slight smile on her face. "I know, Rong…"

* * *

It was time for him to leave now. They'd both tried to postpone it as much as possible, but he had no choice – the Fire Nation soldiers were looking for him, and if he wouldn't show up fast, it would be a matter of time before they'd look through the houses. And that would mean they'd arrest Sakari. Even if they wouldn't, Sakari would be convicted by her own Tribe for hiding a Fire Nation soldier and even saving his life. His leaving was the best solution. But even knowing that, it didn't cheer him up.

He had taken up his Fire Nation uniform again, and even though he despised it, he was wearing it now. He stood opposite of Sakari in the middle of her living room, unsure of what to say. He held his mask in his hand, and felt the choker with the stone pendant burning in his other hand. He hadn't opened it after he'd grabbed it, in a moment Sakari wasn't watching him. That moment was a rare one today – they stayed together most of the time now their goodbye was approaching. He didn't mind being with her for as long as possible, but he wouldn't like it if she knew about his 'gift' – if one could call it a gift – too early.

"So, this is it, then," she softly said, "our last moment together…"

"Yes…" He couldn't help himself, and he embraced her once more. It would be so awkward not to have her around anymore, that he felt he should hold her for as long as he still could. Once again, he wondered when and why he'd become so fond of her. He couldn't remember the moment – maybe it'd been from the very beginning, after all.

"I will miss you," she now said, "and… I think I'll miss you more than you can probably imagine."

She refused to look into his eyes, and thus, he couldn't decide how she meant that. "I'm not so sure about that," he replied, "taken that I'll probably miss you even more."

She looked up with a smile. "You don't have to say that, Rong. It won't make me feel better."

"But it's the truth."

"Yeah, sure…" She sighed, bent her head while leaning against his chest. "I know that you're only holding me right now because I don't look happy, not because you want to. You're only making it worse if you go claiming…"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she just testing him or was she really that silly to think like that? Because no matter how much he cared for her, this _was_ the silliest thing he'd ever heard. "Sakari, you really consider me the type of guy you just described?"

She looked up at him, and eventually shook her head with a desperate look in her eyes. "No, but it'll make it easier for me to say goodbye to you," she now confessed, "I'm sorry, it's silly…"

He couldn't help himself but smile. Why did every funny little detail about her only make him like her even more? At this point, he'd found the answer for himself already. But he wasn't sure if he'd ever tell her. She liked him, she'd made that clear by now, but in what way and how much… And besides, even if his feelings turned out to be returned, it wouldn't make things easier. But, then again, had he been carving the stone in the early morning for nothing? No. He'd been carving it with the intention to give it to her, and she knew he was smart enough to realize what it meant in her Tribe. After all, hadn't he been asking himself about the customs she was used to?

"Rong, why aren't you saying something? It's scaring me."

Her soft yet clear voice awoke him from his thoughts, and he quickly shrugged. "I was just… lost in thoughts, I suppose."

"Thoughts? About what?" Her attitude had suddenly changed, and she seemed to be her old, curious self again.

He chuckled, but he was more nervous than ever. He was about to give it to her, and every second he waited seemed too much now. "Thoughts about what could be the best way to give you my present," he finally brought out.

She was totally surprised. "A present? For me?" she repeated, as if she was afraid she'd misunderstood.

He took a deep breath, knowing that the moment had come now, and then nodded. "Yes, Sakari. For you." He now raised the hand that was still holding the choker, and moved it above hers. He grabbed her hand, and finally, he carefully laid the object in it. "There you go."

She smiled at him, and then opened her hand. She gasped as soon as she saw it. "_Rong!_" she suddenly called out. "I… I hope you know what this means in my Tribe…"

"I do," he nodded. "But don't be afraid this means the same. I just felt we needed to have a connection, because I feel like our bond is deeper than a normal friendship." Thank goodness, the words came out as he'd meant them too. After a short break, he continued. "I can only hope you'll wear it, but of course, I'll understand it if you decide not to. It's your choice."

She smiled, and gently touched the stone he'd carved with so much effort. It was a symbol: on the bottom part, he'd carved the waves of the sea. Those waves turned into flames when they reached the upper part of the stone – it'd taken him quite a while to make it look good, and he'd been satisfied with the final result. Sakari seemed to appreciate it, too, but she was silent.

"Do you…"

"Can you put it on?" she suddenly said, before he could even finish his sentence.

He smiled now. "Sure."

She handed him the choker and turned her back to him, and carefully and gently, he put it around her neck. As soon as he was done, she turned back to him. "I'll treasure it," she whispered, touching the stone with a tender look in her eyes.

And then he suddenly realized he simply couldn't keep quiet. It'd be unfair for the both of them. "Sakari, I have to admit something," he thus said. It was hard, he couldn't deny that, and he almost lost the courage to speak up. But as soon as he saw her wondered face, he knew he had to and continued. "Sakari of the Northern Water Tribe," he now said, sounding almost official, "I'm deeply in love with you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She could barely believe what she'd just heard. Here she was, standing opposite of the boy she'd desperately fallen in love with – the same one who just confessed having the same feelings in return for her. It had to be a dream, that was the only explanation for it. No matter how much she'd longed to hear those words from his lips for the past days, this couldn't possibly be real.

It had all gone so quickly… The day she founded him still seemed like yesterday, even though it'd been an entire month now. However, all conversations they had held during those thirty days, mostly during Healing sessions, were still printed in her mind as if they'd just been held. She could recall them almost literally. When had it begun that she was caring so much about him? Maybe already from the moment she decided to save him instead of leaving him to die. Maybe that choice of hers back then had been a sign…

In the mean while, Rong had developed a fierce blush on his cheeks, and she couldn't help it but smile as soon as she'd noticed that. He was shy! Of course, she knew perfectly why – he was expecting a reaction, either an acceptation or rejection of his confession. He wouldn't leave before she'd given him either one of them. For her, it was a reason to remain silent, even though it was extremely silly. After all, ever second with him while she was aware of his feelings was a precious treasure to her. She wanted to gather as many of those treasures as she could before he had to leave. Then, she'd have something left to cherish, and not just her heart ache. She didn't just want to remember the pain of separation: she wanted to remember the happiness she was experiencing now more than anything else. But then again, she knew he had to be in tension right now, and that it was a pain to him. No, no matter how much she wanted him to stay, she couldn't keep silent just because of that. She could ease his pain with her response, and thus, she looked up at him. "Rong…" she started, but she fell silent after that. It was harder to say it than she had imagined, even though she knew it couldn't hurt her now he confessed first. She touched the pendant stone against her neck in order to gain some courage, and she smiled dreamily. By tradition, the man giving the choker had to carve the pendant by himself, but it was hard to believe that Rong, an absolute beginner, could actually have carved such a complex symbol all by himself. Either he'd had help, or he'd done everything in his power to make it for her. She liked to believe the last thing.

"Rong, I… I don't know what to say, really," she eventually and truthfully whispered "All I know is… is that I've longed to hear those words from you for so long…" She felt how sudden tears dripped on her cheeks now, and she knew what they were doing there. Her answer also contained words of goodbye – she did everything she could to avoid using 'farewell' rather than goodbye.

She noticed how Rong, in the mean while, was shamelessly gazing at her, with eyes shimmering of expectations. She had to be strong now, for both of their sakes. She swallowed her tears away, lifted her head and finally dared to look into his eyes. "I'm in love with you, too," she finally confessed, with a strong and clear voice for a change. It didn't remain as strong and clean, though, as she added: "and I h-hate it you have to l-leave…" She wasn't able anymore to hold back her tears, and instead of sweeping them away, she let them roll and fell in Rong's arms.

He immediately wrapped them around her and pressed her against his chest. He wasn't exactly gentle, but she couldn't be bothered by that. All she wanted now was him, as close to her as possible, and that was precisely what she'd gotten now. "Sakari… this makes me so happy…"

"Shut up," she whispered, grabbing his shirt with a sob. "Shut up… it'll only end in words of goodbye, and I don't want to hear those…"

"Ssh…" He caressed her hair, embraced her even tighter.

And they both remained silent.

* * *

How long had it been until he'd let go of her? Five minutes, five days perhaps? She couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was trembling on her legs as he'd let her go. She couldn't say a thing, and Rong didn't seem capable to find the right words for this situation either. They just stood there, sharing intense looks with one another. Eventually, Sakari thought of something to say – and a deep red blush appeared on her cheeks as the thought passed her mind.

"Eh… Sakari?"

"It's nothing, just leave it."

But he wasn't going to 'leave it', she noticed that soon enough. "You can tell me, girl. Or don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then spit it out."

She sighed, softly cleared her throat before she began to speak. "Well, ehm… taken that we're in love and all… wouldn't it be appropriate if we'd… y'know… kiss…?" She'd expected everything as a possible reaction, except for what really happened: he started to chuckle. "W-what?" She was rather insulted, as it had taken her a lot of courage to speak up.

"For some reason, saying it like that is so typically you," he eventually said, "come here."

Before she realized what was going on, he'd gently grabbed her shoulders and bent over to her. The next moment, she closed her eyes in an impulse, and she felt his soft breath stroking her cheek for a second or two. Then, his lips found hers in an intense, fierce, and yet immensely tender and sweet kiss. She was almost swept off her feet by it, and held on to him as tightly as she could, enjoying the moment.

* * *

Kissing her was a dream coming true, and in the same time, a nightmare. It was literally kissing her goodbye, and that fact really messed up his feelings right now. He held her as long as he could, kissed her over and over again. Goodbye or not, this was what he wanted to do for quite a while now. Sakari… Did she even realize how much she meant to him? "Sakari, I love you," he whispered in her ear. He hardly even noticed he was talking out loud as he thought that, and he didn't mind that either. She just had to know – it was as perfectly simple as that. To his joy, he noticed how she was still blushing, but smiling now, too.

"I… Y-you too," she softly whispered, skipping the most essential word, as she leant against him. That that one word was missing couldn't bother him. Why, why was she so sweet? It'd only make him miss her even more, if that was actually possible.

* * *

They both refused to let each other go, but eventually, he couldn't take it any longer as his arms had gotten too heavy. Saying goodbye wasn't the thing they wanted to do now, but they both felt they didn't have a choice.

At last, he turned away from her and put his mask back on. It felt strange, wearing a mask that covered his face again after a month of freedom in that aspect.

"Good luck," Sakari softly whispered, "and swear me you'll return here once war is over."

"If possible, sooner," he promised, grabbing her hands in an impulse and bringing them to his lips. He realized too late he'd forgotten about the mask already, touched as he was by Sakari's sad face. He quickly compromised by laying her hands against his mask for a second before letting them go. "Be aware of talk, Sakari. I have already told you what my explanation will be to the others."

"I know," she nodded, swallowing with difficulty. "Now, please go… I don't want to see you off with tears in my eyes."

They embraced each other one more time before Rong eventually opened the door, reluctant as he was to do that. Just before walking through it, he looked at the girl standing in the middle of the room. "Goodbye, my dear Sakari."

"G-goodbye…"

It didn't escape him that she sadly bent her head, but he decided this wasn't the time to turn around anymore. He left without looking back – he just had to if he truly wanted to keep her safe. But his heart ached as he shut the door behind him… and it ached even more as he watched through the window by accident when he passed it on his way out. Sakari was close to crying her heart out.

* * *

It took her a long while to get a grip of herself and make her tears to stop, and she eventually dried the last ones of them. She held on to the pendant that was hanging on her choker. It comforted her, but it wasn't enough to cheer her up. Rong's departing had left a dark, empty space in her heart, in despite of their confessions. In fact, knowing he loved her was even harder than not knowing now they were parted like this.

She knew one thing for sure: she'd continue wearing her choker and she'd wait for him, even if it would take another century of war. Rong was out of sight, but as her first true love, he'd never be out of her heart. Even though they'd only spent a mere month together, she'd fallen in love for all the years to come. She was absolutely positive about that.

* * *

As usual in her daily routine now, she visited her parents in the sickbay late that afternoon. Her mother was to busy cleaning to even notice she'd entered, but her father immediately walked towards his daughter as soon as he saw her.

"Sakari! I'm ready to get back home now," he smiled, "it took a while, but I'm finally back to perfect health now. I'll even have a week off from military duty!"

"Really? I'm glad," Sakari smiled, trying to look as cheerful as she possible could. But dark thoughts clouded her mind, and she knew her smile would seem fake to anyone who knew her a little. She couldn't help thinking: 'you got off, but what about Rong? Why didn't _he…_?'

And thus, it wasn't for long that her father didn't notice something about her. "Sakari, what's the matter with you?" he now remarked. "Has it got anything to do with that betrothal necklace that's suddenly around your neck? I can't remember giving any guy permission to ask you and give that to you."

"Oh! Eh… it's just a gift… from a friend," she quickly said. It was the truth, after all – even though she considered Rong as much more than a friend.

Her father gave her a closer look, grabbed her shoulders. "Taken the facts you've accepted it and are now wearing it, even in front of your parents, I'd say he's much more to you than a _friend_. I'm right, aren't I?"

She didn't answer to that, she just couldn't. Of course he was right, but if she confessed, she'd most likely have to tell who this particular 'friend' might be. And she couldn't just yet. In fact, she wasn't sure if she actually _ever_ could with this ongoing war of the Fire Nation.

While she was pondering that over, her father was studying the stone pendant closely, and he suddenly gasped. "M… Sakari," he finally said, "the rumours of you keeping a firebender in our house… I never doubted their truth, you know that? Since you've never expressed hatred against the firebenders, unlike any other girl in our Tribe."

She quickly tore herself loose from his grip and covered the stone with her hand, knowing she was already too late for that. Her father had seen the carved symbol on it already and had drawn his conclusions. But even though he knew almost for sure know, Sakari still didn't dare to confess it.

Her father grabbed her hands at that moment and forced her to look into his eyes, no matter how much she tried to avoid that. "Don't deny it," he whispered, "and don't worry I'll spread the word, because I won't. You're my only child, Sakari, and the only daughter I'll ever have. I want to see you happy, and if you can only be happy with a firebender who's stolen your heart… then so be it. If he took the effort to learn our Tribes customs, despite of their war against us, and made you such a beautiful necklace, I can't doubt his integrity."

Sakari could merely gaze at her father after that speech. His words would have made her the happiest girl on the planet… if only they'd been of any use for her. Because even _with_ her father's approval, Rong was still gone and out of reach. There was no way she could be together with him, necklace and permission or not.

* * *

Rong could only gaze at the village he'd lived in for a month as he was enduring a lecture of the admiral in the mean while. Where had he been, why hadn't he responded to calls, why did he took side of the waterbenders in the first place? The lecture seemed endless, but eventually, it was ended. He realized he was supposed to answer the questions asked now, and he chose his words carefully.

"I didn't _take side_ – I only refused to take part in killing innocent children," he calmly said. "And I have already been punished for it by a fellow firebender. That harshly, in fact, that it'd probably have killed me if I hadn't been saved by a girl of the Water Tribe."

At that point, the admiral burst out laughing. "As if a Water Tribe girl would save the life of a _firebender_, for crying out loud!"

"She was naïve enough to think I was against the war when she saw me helping those children." It took a lot of effort to say such a lie with a straight face, especially as he continued. "She even was as crazy as Healing me back to full health during the month I've been away. She hid me in her house, which explains why I had no idea you were missing me. I simply figured you'd think I was dead."

"Fine, fine. And how did you get out?"

"She simply let me go as soon as I was cured." It was all true, except for the fact he hadn't experienced it the way he had just described it. He had never considered Sakari being a stupid, naïve girl. No, he respected her for her strength, her courage to stand up for him and the help she'd given him. He respected her that much that he'd fallen head over heels in love with her, but he conveniently left out that part. If _something_ would get the both of them in trouble, it would be telling that to a Fire Nation admiral.

That same admiral was grinning now. "Unbelievable! Anyway, no one would make such a crazy story like this up, so I can't do anything but believe you. You're thus excused for your absence – that is, if you join the navy again."

"Of course." 'I hate it,' he added to that in his thoughts, 'but I have no choice. Anything to prevent disaster from striking her…'

* * *

"_Sakari!_"

She looked up in surprise as she left the sickbay. Her parents would follow her home in the evening, as she was excused from helping her mother cleaning her father's stuff back at the sickbay. Her surprise was quickly replaced by something that resembled a slight happiness. "Sedna? What are you doing here?"

"Because I was worried about you," Sedna shrugged, "Balto mentioned something about Rong leaving today, so I thought… _Hold a second! Is that a betrothal necklace?!_" she interrupted herself with a loud scream.

Sakari sighed: she could have expected that to happen. After all, Balto was Sedna's fiancé as well as close to Rong. Almost like a brother, actually. "Yes, it is a necklace, although I'm not betrothed," she answered Sedna's shout. "Rong made it for me, as a sort of goodbye gift."

"_Rong_ did?" Sedna said, in the utmost surprise. She carefully touched the stone, but then shook her head. "No, I just can't believe that… He's only a beginner to our Tribe's customs! Geesh, he must really be head over heels for you to make this!"

"I know," Sakari said with a sad smile. "He told me he is this 'noon, right before he left."

"And?"

"And what?"

Sedna sighed at the naivety of her best friend, eventually petted her head as if she couldn't help it, either. "And – what happened next? Did he hug you, give you a sweet kiss on your cheek?"

"Even better, he kissed my lips," Sakari said. Despite of her misery, she could smile with a dreamy look in her eyes thinking back of that moment. After all, it had been her perfect first kiss…

Sedna had completely freaked out now and was shouting in response. "_No!_ He did not! Really, though?!"

"Sedna, stop acting so psyched," Sakari sighed, "there's nothing to be so happy about, as I probably won't see him anymore until this stupid war is over…"

"Sakari, listen to me," Sedna now said, with a serious look on her face for a moment. "Rong's not the type to just randomly kiss girls, I just know he isn't. You must really mean a lot to him, girl, and I'm not just saying that to cheer you up. I'm sure he'll try anything to meet with you, far before this war is over."

"I can only hope you're right," Sakari whispered, but her heart had cheered up a bit.

* * *

"I said _no way_!"

"Why are you so reluctant to attack this Water Tribe?" the admiral remarked, as Rong averted his head from him after his command. He'd told him the same thing many times over, but the young warrior kept refusing. "I thought you said you wanted to be a part of our navy for real now!"

"Why should that include attacking people?" Rong responded. "Why can't we take over their nation in another way if we have to take it over that badly?"

"Because there _is_ no other way," the admiral sighed, "I find your reaction to this disturbing, to say the least, firebender! Has something _happened_ between you and that Water Tribe girl, perhaps?"

Rong was suddenly incredibly glad he had a mask to hide his face, which was probably as red as a beetroot from embarrassment by now. Of course something had happened: he'd fallen in love with her, for heaven's sake! And it wasn't just an average teenage-crush; it simply didn't feel that way. Merely thinking of her made his heart already ache, an ache he wanted to stop as well to continue, as it would remind him of her. Actually, every single thing with the slightest connection to her reminded him of his times with her. It didn't really help he was on a ship right now with water all around him and, not to forget, her Tribe near. In fact, if he wanted to see her, he only had to get off the ship and run to her house… If only it could be that easy. But he had to lie about everything right now for his own good. "No, sir," he thus said, "nothing happened as I didn't give her the opportunity for something to happen."

"So she wanted you?" the admiral now grinned, as if that was the best joke of the century. "Such a joker you are! Anyway, no more words about this issue anymore now. You'll be attacking the Water Tribe this 'noon, whether you like it or not, and that's the end of this discussion. Got that?"

"Yes, sir," Rong muttered. He turned to the other end of the ship now, the end with a view on the Northern Water Tribe. He thought about things concerning the Tribe, but certainly _not_ about how to attack it.

* * *

"Please be careful this time," Sakari almost begged her father as he was preparing to take off for fight. They had promised him a free week, but apparently, they needed everyone they could get now. She wondered why she hadn't been asked – if they needed every single person they could get… She almost felt angry, even though she knew she should be happy she was never punished for waterbending.

Her father noticed her anger and quickly hugged her for a moment, just before giving her a confident smile. "Don't worry, Sakari. I knew this could happen, so I was prepared for it. We'll attack the Fire Nation as soon as the moon's out, when we're at our strongest. They won't be expecting a thing and they'll be helpless – we may finally push them back to where they've come from."

"I know," Sakari whispered, bending her head. She couldn't possibly say what she really wanted to say: 'please don't kill them, it could be Rong…' She worried about him as much as she worried about her father, or perhaps even more. After all, her father had more experience in fighting and on top of that, he'd be fighting when the moon was out. Waterbenders' strength increased with the rising of the moon, while firebenders' powers weakened at the same time.

Her worries weren't unnoticed by her father once more, and he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about _him_ either, girl," he softly said, to prevent that her mother in the same room was able to hear him. "You saved his life, remember? He'll treasure it, he won't give it up that easily."

At that point, Sakari's mother interrupted them with the message she had some cleaning to do in the rest of the house, and she took of to the bedroom.

Sakari smiled a bit now. "I know…. Thanks, dad."

"Don't think I don't know what it's like to be in love, because I do," he now told her. "Twenty years ago, I fell in love with your mother, and I still am."

With that sentence, a question rose in Sakari's mind. It had been there for a long while, as she'd always wondered the same thing – it just never seemed to match. That question was now finally asked. "What made you choose my mother?"

Her father sighed at that, but eventually smiled. "Because she was the girl she was, and still is. It's as simple as that. I know what you wanted to say – we're total opposites, and that's true. But maybe that's just what attracts me in her."

So it could be simple. She didn't need any complicated reasons for liking Rong the way she did, and it wasn't odd she had fallen in love with him because she admired him for whom he was and how he treated her. It was a relief, for some reason. Her motives to love him were plausible.

* * *

He found it far beyond unfair, attacking a nation without giving them a proper notice of it first. But he only received one and the same reaction on his comments: 'everything is fair in love and war.' Complete nonsense, he found that now even more than before. He felt he would betray the few friends he'd finally gained: his dear Sakari, Sedna and of course Balto. He'd started to consider the last one as the older brother he'd always longed for ever since he was a little kid, even though they didn't know each other for that long. All he could hope for now was that he didn't have to face him in this battle.

* * *

It didn't take a long while before the 'surprise' part of their surprise attack had faded away. Waterbenders were on their guard and came out of every nook and cranny as soon as they saw the Fire Nation soldiers. Rong knew he was probably the stronger one with the sun still out, but he couldn't help it – he got scared as the waterbenders tried to strike him. He hated fighting, and feared for his life: he'd rather be on the safe side. He hadn't let Sakari safe his life only to spill it in a worthless fight against her people! But in order to live, he had to fight. If not, he'd probably end up being killed by either the waterbenders or his own people. He had no choice: he had to do what he'd always hated most.

And he hated it even more as he saw his opponent's face.

He tried to act in a normal way, knowing there was no way he'd be recognized by him in return. After all, he was still wearing his mask. 'Why him?' he couldn't help thinking. 'Why, out of all waterbending males of this Tribe?' Once again, he had no choice, as the numbers on both sides were even. Just attacking another one would therefore not really work if he didn't want to get hit by _him_ first. But he knew his own powers, and he knew they could be lethal. More lethal than water, even though the powers of water shouldn't be underestimated. Fire however was more direct and instant if lethal, and he didn't want to risk killing him. Not the guy he'd started to consider as his brother – not Balto.

"Bring it on, fireguy," Balto suddenly said, summoning water, "I can take you down this very instant. Why can't you people leave us in peace? Why should you take over this place? All I want is a happy life with the woman I love here!"

"You're not the only one with that wish," Rong remarked, but he realized his voice sounded differently through the mask than it normally did. And indeed, his voice wasn't recognized by his opponent – and that same opponent was infuriated.

"Oh, right! As if another nation has been trying to kill you and your people for over a century! _You_ can live in peace if you want to, so quit nagging!"

"But I meant that I wanted to live _here_ with her!" he shouted in an impulse: an impulse he should have had suppressed.

The waterbender was beyond himself now, and hastily attacked him. "Shut up! SHUT UP!"

"But it's me!" Rong shouted, dodging the water, "don't you recognize me?"

"Shut your trap and fight me like a man!"

He knew he had no choice: it was getting obvious now to others that he was reluctant to fight, and the admiral had already warned him for that. No fight, no pay – and no life. But he didn't want to attack the guy who was like a brother to him, who was more or less becoming Sakari's brother-in-law. He had to do something, though, and thus, he decided to attack – but miss. It was his only chance to be loyal and yet save his friend's life.

However, it didn't turn out the way he wanted to. The fire beam he sent missed his target indeed and went left of him… right at the moment a girl ran towards Balto, with cloaks and a first aid kit.

"Hey, Balto, I…. _aaaah!_" The fire beam had hit her right in the chest, and she collapsed before Rong fully realized what was going on and whom he had hit.

* * *

P.S.: What about the name of Balto? I gave him a name as he got a bigger role than I originally intended... But feel free to comment on it, please!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Please, say she's going to be alright!"

Sakari deeply sighed at Balto's impatience. "Balto, calm down! You've given me, what, ten seconds to take a look at her!" She looked down at her best friend, who was breathing heavily. They had brought her into her house right after she'd been attacked, and laid her on the first thing they bumped into – the couch. She was severely injured, but Sakari couldn't tell just how severe. She had to take of her friend's shirt for that, and she was a little embarrassed to do so in front of Balto. Him being her fiancé or not, she was sure Sedna wouldn't like such bold behaviour. Sakari sighed again as she saw the big burn mark, which already started just underneath her ear. Sedna had been extremely lucky – even though the fire beam had hit her chest, she was still alive. But Sakari could only guess how big the scar would be that the attack left, even after Healing. Why had a firebender attacked a girl who just came to look out for the wounded? Were they truly that disgraceful? If she had to believe Rong, they were. After all, he'd been punished for trying to rescue some _kids_! Why would they even _bother_ to attack a bunch of kids? No, except for Rong, she hated all firebenders from now on. "Sedna, can you hear me?" she now softly whispered.

"Uhh…" Sedna moaned a little, but eventually opened her eyes. "Sakari? W… what…" She tried to get up, but fell back on bed quickly. "Ouch…"

"A firebender hit you," Sakari quickly explained, "when you rushed to Balto in order to help him."

"That's right… H-how is he?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Balto hurried to say, kneeling next to her. He tried to smile a bit, as he saw her worried yet pained face. "Don't worry about me, Sedna. For heaven's sake, it's you who's hurt here…" He tightly embraced her, until she squeaked of pain.

"Ah… H… Balto, you're hurting me…"

"Sorry!" He quickly let go of her, and Sakari sniggered at the sight of his despair. The two of them made a sweet couple, even though both of them had quite a temper from time to time. But they both seemed calm and happy whenever they were together.

Sakari was happy for her best friend, but she couldn't help feeling a little jealousy. At least Sedna and Balto could be together… She quickly shook her head. No, she shouldn't be thinking stuff like that! She should help her best friend. She'd had her time with Rong, and she'd known from the very moment she'd fallen in love with him that it wasn't meant to be. In fact, she should be happy with every single moment she'd shared with him and be beyond herself of joy that he returned her feelings! But no, she just couldn't. The pain of separation was too big, even though she had only seen him two days ago for the last time. 'Rong, why did you have to steal my heart?' she thought, looking back at Sedna now and giving her a smile. "Will it be alright for you if I Heal you? Or would you rather have an expert doing it?"

"You're good enough to do it," Sedna smiled, "especially with burns…"

Sakari tried not to flinch as she nodded. "Yes, you're right, I have experience with those. Well, ehm… Shall I tell Balto to get out?"

"Hey, I'm right next to you!"

Sedna carefully giggled, even though it hurt her. "If he wants to stay, let him stay."

"But your wound…"

"I know where it is, thank you."

Sakari could slam her head at that second. Of course, such a dumb head she was! "Oh, right. I'm such a dummy sometimes," she said, managing to chuckle now. "So, you want him out or not?"

Sedna looked up now, into Balto's eyes that were giving her a tender look. "No," she smiled, "no. I want him to stay." She grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You can start Healing me now, Sakari."

* * *

Healing Sedna took a lot of her powers, but Sakari gave it her all to help her. After all, starting from the time they were small, Sedna'd helped her out numerous times. It was time for a pay back now – but whoever had attacked her, was one powerful firebender. The part of the wound that ran from her neck to her shoulder was pretty bad, but she managed to Heal at least that pretty well. That meant that if Sedna would end up being scarred in the end, it wouldn't be visible if she'd be normally dressed.

As Sakari led the water over her friend's shoulder, Balto was holding Sedna's hand and whispered soft promises in her ear. "I'm staying here with you, okay? Whatever they'll say or do, I'll stay by your side until you tell me to go."

"Thank you…"

Sakari weakly smiled as she looked up. "I'm so happy that your engagement was accepted, you know that? You belong together."

"I know another couple that belongs together, Sakari," Sedna muttered, that softly that only Sakari could hear it.

At that moment, someone suddenly barged into the room – someone dressed in a red army uniform. A firebender. And he didn't exactly receive a warm welcome from Balto, who ran towards him immediately.

"_You_!" Before anyone realized what he was doing, he summoned the water Sakari was using seconds ago.

"Hey, you! That's my water I use for Healing!"

But Balto ignored her protests and released the water on the firebender with a furious look. "There you are, you bloody… You almost killed her! I'll kill YOU!"

Unlike everything else Sakari had suspected, the firebender felt insulted and called back at Balto. "I never meant to hurt her, believe me!" he shouted, "I just came by to check how she was doing!"

Sakari's jaw dropped as she heard him talking. She was petrified for a moment, but then, she reacted in an impulse and bended the water out of Balto's grip.

"What the…"

"Stop it!" she shouted at him, leading the water back into the bottle. "I know that voice!" She knew it was a reckless thing to do, she knew she could be making a huge mistake – it wasn't as if recognizing a voice was indisputable proof for her theory. But still, she ran towards the warrior and held still at a distance of an inch from him. "It's you, isn't it?" She took his silence as a 'yes', no matter if there was a chance she was wrong or not. It could be a trap, but she decided to ignore that fact and gently laid her hands against the side of his mask. Carefully, she removed it from his face. After she'd done so, she couldn't help herself but smiling broadly at the face that she'd uncovered. Hadn't she wished for him to be with her mere seconds ago? And there he was, standing right in front of her – she could even touch his face, and thus, she did. "Rong…"

But the next second, Balto had pushed her aside and gave Rong a look he'd never given him before – a look he'd saved for a murderous firebender. "_You_! Filthy traitor! I should have trusted my instincts rather than you! Once Fire Nation, always…"

"Balto, _stop it_." Sedna's voice hadn't been that loud as she spoke, but it sure had effect on her fiancé.

Balto was silent all of a sudden, and gave her a gloomy, guilty look. "Sedna, I…"

"Rong didn't attempt to kill_ me_," she softly said. "All he did was trying to avoid hitting _you_. It was an unhappy coincidence that I happened to walk in the way that moment."

Balto was unsure how to respond to that message, reluctant as he was to believe it after she'd gotten hurt that badly. "You're just covering for him for Sakari's sake, aren't you?"

"If he'd done _this_ – " – and she showed the not yet exposed piece of her burn, that ran all the way to her chest – "on purpose to me, do you think I'd let him get away with it?"

"Ah… n-no, of c-course not…"

Sedna smiled at his blushing face, and covered her wound again with a pained face. "Then please, forgive him."

Balto now looked at Rong, suspiciously, but he eventually sighed with a beaten face. "I – take it you second Sedna's story?"

"Absolutely," Rong hurried to say. "As she said, I avoided hitting you. I knew I had no choice but to fight, because it would give away…"

"I get you," Balto now smiled. He was silent for a while, in which he seemed to ponder. Then, he reached out his hand to his friend. "Please accept my apologies for my threats and behaviour just now."

"Apologies accepted," was Rong's immediate response as he shook hands with him.

Sedna suddenly beamed with happiness. "I'm so glad! Oh, right… Sakari? I hope it's not too much of a pain for you, but I promised mum I'd clean up my room today and since I'm not really able to… Rong can help you, I suppose," she added with a wink.

Sakari looked up in a daze. She was worn out by Healing her friend, and she'd had the most difficulty to catch up with what was said. Therefore, it took her a while before she got the hint. "Oh… Yes, that's fine. Come on, Rong."

* * *

As she'd already suspected, Sedna's room was perfectly clean – she suspected her friend from having it cleaned that same morning. As Sakari entered the room, she heard Rong smiling behind her.

"So it _was_ an excuse, after all."

"I guess," Sakari shrugged. She hadn't noticed how tired she was until now, as she sat down on Sedna's bed.

Rong quickly took place next to her, and suddenly, she felt how he pressed her against his chest, and he wasn't too gentle. It kind of hurt, actually, as being bashed head-first against a breastplate wasn't exactly pleasant. But she was too tired to complain in the first place, and above all, she was overwhelmingly happy to see him and be with him.

"I never dared to hope to see you again this soon," he muttered in her ear, "oh, Sakari, I… I can't stay that long, as I promised I would get back to the ship to prepare for whatever the next plan might be… Please, stay with me for as long as we can afford it…"

She nodded against his chest, closed her eyes as she felt his arms around her comfortably. She'd give anything to stay with him for now, but she just knew she couldn't, even though there was only one reason for it. "I'm tired… I'm sorry, I'm so tired," she whispered truthfully. "I'm not sure if I can stay awake… Healing… takes a lot of my energy, and I really gave it all I had to Sedna… Have you seen her wounds, Rong? I just wished I could help her… She's soon going to marry the love of her life, she should look her prettiest!" She realized too late that it had been Rong who'd given her friend those wounds, but fortunately, he didn't respond to that.

"I'm sure Balto will love her just as much if she ends up scarred as he will if she ends up completely healthy," Rong assured her. "Please, Sakari – it's wonderful you want to help your friend, but don't let that be a pressure on you, okay?"

"Okay…" She allowed him to stroke her hair and embrace her even more tightly. She snuggled close to him in a response.

"Sakari, talking about marrying to love of one's life… I, ehm…"

She couldn't hear the words that followed those anymore, no matter how badly she wanted to hear them, with whole her heart. She was truly worn out, and she leant heavily against his chest. He was talking to her, she realized that, but she was too tired to make actual sense out of what he said. His words became murmuring in her head, and she couldn't make heads or tails from them. "Ri… Rong…" She attempted to tell him, to ask him to wait with telling her what was so important until her body'd had the rest she needed. But all she could whisper was his name, before she finally gave in to the sleep that had haunted her that day.

* * *

She woke up under the sheets of Sedna's bed, carefully tucked in by someone – she didn't doubt that someone had been Rong. Rong… Where was he, anyway? "Hello?" She looked around, and the noticed she was the only one in the room. She _was_ completely alone. "Rong!"

"He has left." It was Balto who'd spoken, as he'd suddenly appeared in the opening of the door. "Five minutes ago, as he was summoned back by the admiral. He'd put you into bed as you'd fallen asleep, and sat there next to you ever since."

She looked up in surprise, and was immediately endeared as the meaning of those words hit her. Rong truly was as sweet as she… Hold a second! "Five minutes ago, you said?"

"Yes, but…"

She stood up immediately, although she had to hold still for a second – she was still pretty lightheaded from lying in bed for so long. As soon as she felt better, she rushed through the bedroom door and opened the front door just as quickly. "Rong!" she shouted, not paying attention to the persons that might hear her out there. "Rong!"

"Sakari, get back here right this instant!" Balto shouted, grabbing her hand and attempting to pull her back in.

"Let me go! Rong, _Rong_!"

"Who is calling one of our warriors?!"

Before shoe knew it, two Fire Nation soldiers had grabbed her arms and pulled her out of Balto's. "What the…"

"I meant to tell you," Balto said, "Fire Nation has taken over the lead of our village, Sakari."

"No, that's a lie!" Sakari shouted, summoning water from her bottle in an impulse, "and you… let me go, NOW!" She bended the water to the warriors holding her, and actually blasted them off their feet for a moment. That moment was long enough for her to loosen herself from their grip, running back through the door and shutting it behind her as quickly as she could.

"Sakari! Are you _crazy_?!"

"Yes, Balto, I am," she called out, leaning backwards against the door. She felt more desperate than she'd ever felt before. "Crazy for falling asleep at what was probably the last moment I could share with the one I love. Crazy for letting him walk out… Where is he now, anyway? Killed?"

"As a matter of fact, he got out safely." It was Sedna who'd talked now, still lying on the couch. Balto had wrapped a blanket around her. "I don't think they suspected him from meeting with Water Tribe people. As he got out, we overheard him talking with firebenders… It's no use anymore. They've taken over our village without a doubt, in just a couple of hours of time."

Sakari, stunned at the moment, simply sat down on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. The news hit her right into the face, and she could only think of all the waterbenders out there who might have gotten injured, or worse. "So, this is truly it, then… Fire Nation has won…"

"Actually, no," Balto now remarked. "Tonight will have a full moon, as you know. We'd planned a surprise attack for tonight already before Fire Nation decided to attack _us_ first. Anyway, regarding that… I have a favour to ask you, and you alone, Sakari."

"Oh…" She wasn't really interested, as most favours asked from Water Tribe girls were helping to Heal in the sickbay or something similar. She'd expected anything, except for the favour he truly asked her.

"I want you to fight with us tonight."

"W-W-WHAT?!"

She'd finally calmed down a bit as Balto'd explained the situation to her. It hadn't been his personal decision to ask her, although he did approve of it. No, it had been her father who'd made the suggestion. A lot of male waterbenders had been knocked out in the fight, and it was only by miracle that no-one on their side had died yet. They were truly in need of every pair of waterbending hands right now – even if that meant they had to take in a girl. And as the majority had agreed on the plan, Sakari was the first one they came running to. She'd shown her strength before, after all, and it was a better decision to pick her over all girls who could only Heal and the boys who were too young for fighting. And truth being told, Sakari liked it to fight along – there was only one thing that held her back from doing it.

She could be facing Rong in the battle. The rates were very odd, but the chance was still there. And as Balto hadn't recognized him when he became his opponent, and as she wouldn't have recognized him either if she hadn't known how his voice sounded when his face was covered by the mask, she feared she might attack him without knowing it was him. And even though he'd badly injured her best friend, she didn't wish to have him as her opponent. It had been an accident that afternoon, and it couldn't change her feelings for him. She didn't doubt he never intended to hurt either Balto, Sedna or anyone else of the Tribe, as he'd then had the chance to hurt someone close to her, Sakari. In fact, she genuinely believed he cared for her Tribe's people, even if she hadn't been one of them. She believed it weren't just his pacifistic heart and his caring for her that held him back from hurting any of them. Considering all this, the first question she asked Balto after his speech concerned Rong. "Is it possible for me to recognize Rong among the others in full armour? You're the one who's seen them all."

"All I can recall is that Rong was one of the shorter ones," Balto said in response, "but maybe I only got that impression because I'm pretty tall."

"You can state so, yes," Sakari chuckled. As a matter of fact, Balto was an entire foot taller than she was, making him a giant amongst the other Water Tribe people. She opened her mouth again to give him her answer – and immediately shut it once she realized something. She now turned back to Sedna. "I can't fight now," she said, to no-one in particular. "I must Heal Sedna before her burn marks start turning into scars."

"Sakari, it won't…"

"One night of neglecting might be enough to have you mutilated for life," Sakari said, "we can't take the risk."

"Sakari, it's lovely you care that much," Sedna smiled, "but my mother will be coming home tonight once she's done Healing in the sickbay. She's a _Healer_, y'know, and a good one."

"But I promised… You're my best friend…"

"Well, this isn't an ordinary situation," Sedna said, "and it doesn't make you less of a friend if you choose to help the entire Tribe instead of just me, Sakari."

"I… Thank you," was all Sakari could say, as she hugged her best friend in a tight embrace. She wouldn't have missed her for the world.

* * *

"Are you ready?"

Sakari smiled up at her father, who was visibly proud that his only child, his daughter, had joined in. However, she didn't believe what Balto had told her earlier – that the majority of the warriors had agreed on this decision. She got only angry looks from the waterbenders, except for a few with other expressions. Her father was proud, and so was Balto, which was logical. Balto had treated her as a sister ever since he and Sedna had started to go out, as they came in contact quickly after that. In fact, he'd started to call her his 'future best-friend-in-law' with a smile ever since Sedna was wearing the necklace he gave her. But the adult warriors weren't as proud to have a girl in the middle of them. They gave her horror-struck, irritated and suspicious looks, as if they thought she was infiltrating them on behalf of the Fire Nation. This was unlike the younger, especially single, warriors. Some of them looked at her as if they'd never seen her before, despite of the fact she'd been around for almost sixteen years now. For some reason, the fact that she was dressed like one of them really appealed to them.

"Darn, is _that_ that timid little Sakari? She's surely grown up!"

"Wow, she must be a wild one if they let her join!"

"Well, born in summer rather than winter – what else would you expect?"

Sakari tried to ignore the whispering as she nodded at her father. "I'm ready, dad."

"Good." He wasn't in charge, but it was a sign that they'd soon get off to fight.

* * *

"Full moon out! Take positions NOW!"

The Fire Nation had retired in houses they'd taken over for the night, and they weren't exactly expecting a counter-attack after their triumph over the village that afternoon. The waterbenders sure had an advantage: they surprised, they were most powerful now with the moon out, and unlike them, Fire Nation had done no preparations to fight a surprise attack. They had guards in front of their houses, but not enough.

"Attack, _attack_!"

The shout came as firebenders left their houses, and Sakari wasn't entirely sure if the order was meant for them or for her own group. She decided to attack anyway – and made a good guess. She summoned water and attacked just in time to undo a dangerous fire attack.

"Geesh, extinguished by a stupid _girl_!"

"Don't you _dare _calling my daughter stupid!" her father now shouted, attacking the firebender who said that. He blasted him off his feet before he could even respond.

Sakari weakly smiled. "Eh… thanks, dad."

"Any time."

* * *

The fight lasted for hours and was tough. Water was strong, but fire was aggressive and made some serious injuries. Some waterbenders had to retire early in fight after being hit, and one man's hand was completely burnt away. Sakari didn't dare to think of the pain he'd suffered. She herself hadn't been hit for now, and she was fiercely fighting the nation she hated with passion. But it got harder and harder to remain on her feet as the night progressed. More and more firebenders showed up and attacked as the moon climbed… and eventually descended into the night sky. The waterbenders' powers started to weaken all of a sudden, and Sakari noticed how she hit less firebenders with the same attack with every minute that passed. They had to win soon, or else, it'd be over for them. She didn't dare to think about what might happen after that…

And as she stood there, sunk into thoughts, a firebender suddenly grabbed her hands. She hadn't seen him coming, and now, it was too late. She struggled to loosen herself from him with all her might, but she was too tired to actually have a chance to win this. Even though he wasn't that tall or muscular, he was still strong enough to master her…

But suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind the mask. A voice that told her: "act as if I hurt you, pretend you're unconscious. It's the only way…"

She couldn't believe it, but she knew he was right. Get back to fight would automatically lead to immediate danger, and if he told her to _act _hurt instead of actually hurting her…

Her brain was the thing hurting the most as she closed her eyes, and the firebender lifted her in his arms and ran off with her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He couldn't believe he'd actually done it as he took her into a small cave. He felt glorious and a betrayer at the same time. But what else could he have done? Sakari was carved into his heart so deeply that he couldn't stand it to see her even _about_ to get hurt. He couldn't bear it to see her fighting merely because he was in constant fear for her well-being.

As one of the guards, he'd been involved in the fight from the very beginning that night, and it had only taken him seconds to realize the girl that now fought amongst the waterbenders was in fact the girl he'd fallen in love with. He had made several attempts to make her notice him, but it had been too dark and too chaotic for that. Eventually, he'd only seen one solution to save her – to 'kidnap' her and run off with her. He had no idea what to do as his next step – all that mattered to him now was that she was safe and sound, here with him. He softly put her on the ground now, back on her feet, and as she sat down, she gave him a confused look.

"Is… is it you?" she softly asked.

He could hear the sound of confidence in her voice – as if she already knew the answer and just needed a confirmation. He now smiled, knelt in front of her. "Take off the mask, then, I'd say."

She gave him one of her smiles, already so dear to him, and gently removed the mask. It was a relief to breathe normally again.

"I knew it," she now whispered, happily leaning against him now. "I just knew it…"

He wrapped his arms around her as he'd done earlier that day. That day… it seemed to last for several years rather than twenty-four hours, and it was still not over yet.

Sakari now started to feel familiarly heavily in his arms, and he realized she was probably near complete exhaustion. It truly was a miracle she'd been able to fight for so long.

"Take a rest for as long as you need, Sakari."

"I… must… n…" She couldn't even speak the 'not' anymore – the fact she had the opportunity to close her eyes and go to sleep now was probably irresistible for her body.

He felt her heart throbbing more slowly and regularly against his own: she was getting ready for some good rest. "I'll stay with you until you wake up this time, I promise," he whispered in her ear, before pressing a kiss on it.

She weakly smiled, snuggled close to him. "Hm…"

He smiled now, too, and felt around him. The blanket he'd left earlier was still there, and he gently spread it over her.

He'd discovered the cave as he'd been commanded to inspect the surrounding area, and rather than report its location, he kept the secret of the cave for himself and carried stuff into it 'in case if'. He was glad he'd done so now – as far as he knew, he was the only one who knew about the existence of the cave, meaning he and Sakari were quite safe now.

That afternoon had been a close call, a _very_ close one in fact. He'd left Sedna's house as soon as he noticed he was being summoned, and it was only by pure luck that the admiral hadn't noticed where he was coming from. But the admiral had gotten suspicious thanks to his sudden disappearance, and it was therefore that Rong had been signed to guard the others as they installed themselves to prevent him from running off again. It was sickening how the firebenders chased families out of their homes by brute force, even if they left voluntarily, merely to show off their firebending skills. He wondered how many people of the Water Tribe had died – or should he say survived? They'd even taken over the sickbay to use it for their own men, even though those were hardly injured at all. Instead, they attacked the Healers over there, stealing the place for the wounded with leaving more ones in need of care behind. Rong could only hope Sakari's parents had already been out of the sickbay at the time of the attack.

He looked down at the girl asleep in his lap now, wondering what would happen next. They couldn't stay here forever: they'd be missed. On the other hand, however, it'd be great to live with her knowing she returned his feelings, even if it was just for a while and in a dark cave. After all, this was the first time he was with her he could be open about his emotions.

Sakari… With all the feelings bubbling inside him as he looked at her, it was surprising how little he actually knew about her. She lived together with her parents, didn't have any siblings as far as he knew, had a best friend named Sedna who was engaged to _his_ best friend, and had her birthday in summer. He only knew the last thing because he overheard the waterbenders talking about her. But at least he knew _who_ she was – he though he knew, anyway. She was caring, selfless, perhaps a bit naïve, but certainly not in a bad way. She longed for peace as much as he did, and above all, she was the sweetest thing alive to him… and she loved him back. She probably trusted him, too, as she'd never once suggested he might have attacked Sedna on purpose, despite of the fact she was furious her friend got hurt…

But the thing he knew best about her was the fact she'd stolen his heart, and that the only reason they couldn't be together in public was the ongoing war they both hated so much.

* * *

The sun was almost rising, and Rong's almost fallen asleep himself as Sakari finally woke up. "Mm…Rong?" was the first thing she said, as she carefully opened her eyes and looked up at him.

He couldn't help himself: he bent over to her and kissed her lips tenderly, causing her to smile a bit.

"I seem to make a habit out of it to fall asleep whenever we have a stolen moment together," she remarked, bitterly.

He embraced her as tightly as he could, afraid she might leave any second now.

"Ah…"

"Sakari…" Now he finally had the possibility to hold her in his arms, he couldn't control himself anymore. After all, for all he knew, this could be the final time in his life he could hold her like this and kiss her until he ran out of breath. "Sakari…"

"Hm… s… stop it," she whispered, as he kissed her lips and her neck.

He didn't want to hear those words, and thus, he pretended to be deaf for a while. He didn't really notice she could care about that – it was almost as if she'd only told to stop him because she felt obligated to.

She gave in as he kept kissing her, and just for a while, no-one else existed on the planet except for the two of them. It was indeed for just a while, as all a sudden, cold gust of wind travelled into the cave and let the both of them shiver. Sakari sadly smiled as she seemed to return to this earth again. "Sorry, I think I eh… I let myself go for a second," she now whispered, "but we…_really_… shouldn't be doing this."

"I love you." It came out naturally, without hesitation.

"I know, and it's mutual," she softly responded. Her words were also without uncertainty. "But, whenever we kiss… I… it just feels too good to be true, Rong. You get that, right?"

"Then why not…"

"It's easier to long for something I've never had," she tried to explain, "as I can shove it aside as imagination. But to long back for something I've had before… I noticed that after you left, right after our first kiss. I felt the ache of missing your touch as soon as you shut the door behind you."

Her words touched him, endeared him, yet also upset him at the same time. But why was it that just looking at her already forced him to forgive her? He felt it was impossible to blame her for anything – was this what they called 'love makes blind'?

"Rong, what is your plan?" she now went on to another subject.

"Hm?" He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Well, to get out of here without being seen together. It's not like we won't be missed."

"I… eh… there is no plan," he confessed. He was ashamed of it, but he knew that hiding it would be of no use. "I acted upon impulse, merely impulse. No big plan."

He had expected her to give him an angry look, to shout at him maybe. All was expected, except for the smile she gave him. "For some reason, even _that_ makes me love you even more."

Her look made_ him _love_ her_ more, but he kept that silent for now as it wasn't the appropriate time. "Let's just see how it works out," he now said, "maybe you can find an opportunity to sneak out when they're starting to look for you. But quite frankly, I don't want to let you go already just now."

"I won't even allow you to let me."

He couldn't help himself once more – he embraced her again and kissed her until they'd both run out of breath. Now they could still do as they pleased, they could pretend – even if only for a little while – that there was no such thing as a war going on between their nations, forcing them apart. They weren't like water and fire. They were like the smoke of peace that predicted a long, safe and calm period. Rong could only hope that one day, he'd have a life with Sakari in a period like that.

* * *

Sakari deeply sighed, and leant against his chest while giving him a happy smile. "Hiding inside a small cave like this is surprisingly comfortable."

"Hm." He caressed her hair, closed his eyes. They seemed like an average teenage couple right now, just kissing and snuggling close to one another. It was more than he could have ever hoped for, and it was therefore enough to him. "I truly love you, Sakari."

"Hee…"

He gently covered her with the blanket again – she wasn't wearing her coat, and he feared she might catch a cold in this environment. He was safe on that side, as his armour was pretty warm. "You want something to drink?"

"Hm… You wouldn't happen to have hidden chocolate milk in here, would you? I feel like it."

"Actually, I would. Just a second…" He felt around him, and bumped into the bag of food supplies he'd hidden before. Once again, he blessed his thought that he might return here and need some food or drink. He found the bottle he was looking for and held it up. "There you go."

"Ah… it's cold, huh?"

"You ought to remember for once that I'm a firebender," he smiled. He snapped with his fingers, which caused a small flame to appear. He used the flame to heat the chocolate, and filled Sakari and himself a mug after that.

"That's rather convenient," Sakari smiled. "But I can do some tricks too – look." She carefully bended the hot chocolate out of her mug, and led it into the air with slight movements of her fingers. The chocolate followed as she commanded, and it took the shape of a heart for several seconds in front of Rong's face. After that, Sakari led it back into her mug with a satisfied smile.

"One shouldn't mess with one's food," Rong chuckled, "hasn't it cooled down now?"

She took a drink of it, then shook her head. "No, it's exactly the right temperature for me now. Don't forget I'm not used to much warmth, living at the North Pole and all." She snuggled back to him and closed her eyes. "But the warmth I experience by being close to you can't be warm enough to me," she now softly whispered.

He almost spilled his chocolate as he hurried to embrace her once more. "We should be together like this forever," he muttered in her ear, "I mean it."

She didn't respond to that, and he knew very well why she didn't. She didn't want to burst his bubble by saying there was no way they could. He was perfectly aware of the fact they could not, but he appreciated it nonetheless that she didn't point that out.

* * *

He awoke late that afternoon, and noticed Sakari was still lying against him. She'd also fallen asleep, probably because she needed it. He'd only seen her awake for several hours, from the moment she'd woken up until he fell asleep three hours later. It took him a while to realize he'd woken up by voices outside. It was almost a reflex to him to pull Sakari closer to him in order to protect her. Yet he hadn't count on it that he might awake _her_ with that.

"Hm… what's it?" she murmured, "i… it's still you, Rong?"

"Ssh, I thought I heard someone," he whispered.

She nodded to show she understood, and then, completely unexpected, pushed him aside.

"Sakari, what…"

"Maybe it's Sedna or one of the other girls," she whispered, creeping to the entrance, "I hope Sedna, because I don't know how the others will respond when they see you. It's better to have me at the entrance rather than you, Rong, I think you understand that."

"But what if it's Fire Nation? We don't know what happened yesterday; maybe your people were completely overthrown!" He knew that was a bad thing to say, and indeed: Sakari's face immediately fell.

"If that's the case… Well, I bet they have never played here in childhood," she softly said, "so it's a rare possibility they'll find us here as long as we keep quiet."

He was completely shocked, and then realized how foolish he'd been to automatically assume people who lived around here had never found the cave. Of course they had! _Especially_ children, who loved nothing more than to explore. "Sakari, do you think we're safe here?" he now asked.

She pondered a while, then nodded. "I think this is as safe as we can get," she now whispered, "as this isn't a big or interesting cave, people mostly avoid it. I don't think it's the first place people will look if they're actually looking for us."

He decided to just trust her on that and took place right behind her. He couldn't care if they might spot him – from here, he could at least properly defend her if they were to attack her. But it wasn't necessary: the voiced quickly died down. Even if they were looking for him or Sakari, they weren't about to find them any time soon.

"They're heading towards another village," Sakari commented, peeping through the entrance as carefully as she could. "I think we're safe for now. But we really should think of something to get out of here, Rong. I mean – I don't take it you've got enough supplies to live here for several weeks?"

He had to admit that he hadn't, but he refused to think about the next separation already. Three times of splitting up in one week… He doubted he'd survive that. Twice was bad enough.

* * *

After they'd sat next to one another for a while, silently, Rong gave her an intense look and said out loud what he'd been wondering for so long. "Sakari of the Northern Water Tribe, who are you, exactly? Who is the girl I care so dearly for?"

She blushed a bit as she looked up at him. "Well, I'm not much more than just 'Sakari of the Northern Water Tribe', really," she smiled. "I was born to this Tribe. I am supposed to become a fine housewife to one of the men here, give birth to healthy children – preferably boys – and…"

"That's what your _duties_ and expectations are," he interrupted her, "that's not the person _you_ are. I want to know who you are, Sakari."

"Ah… I'm…" She hesitated before she continued, but the speech that followed was clear and without pauses.

"I'm a girl, and I'm willing to accept whatever comes with that in the Tribe I was born to. Yet, I don't want an average life with decisions being made for me, as customs are here. I wanted to fall madly in love, which has happened, and now, I want to be happy with that person. I don't want to be forced into marriage, leaving me up to accept my husband, get to know him and maybe eventually start to love him. I made it my life goal to marry my true love, and no-one else instead. If they expect me to grow happy with a stranger, why can't I be expected to grow happy with someone I love? I'm a romantic, I want to believe true love exists, and I want to believe I found it with you." She was silent now, as if she was pondering her words, and didn't dare to look at him anymore. Then, she continued about another part of herself.

"I'm willing to learn, to gain knowledge and skills, and do my utmost best for it. I'm headstrong, though, and not only when it comes to that. I'm not good at bearing critiques, yet I ask for them to learn from it. People tell me I'm good at listening and often at helping them out, too, although I'm not so sure about that myself. I love it to plan things out ahead, but I love it even more to make some room for the unexpected to happen." She gasped for breath, then sighed. "I think I've described 'me' as well as I could now."

He didn't know what to say, if he actually should be talking right now. The first part of her speech had moved him without a doubt, as he knew she'd been speaking about the two of them. The second part had impressed him, as she was brave enough to do this much self-reflection. And overall, he was pleased, as he could state he knew her pretty well: she hadn't told him many new things about herself. She was just as he'd expected, and therefore the girl he loved.

In the mean while, Sakari was still silent and blushing. She didn't even dare to look up at him as she finally spoke again. "Ehm… well… shouldn't you tell me now who Rong of the Fire Nation is?"

Her voice startled him from his thoughts. He'd expected that question to pop up sooner or later now he'd interrogated her, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to answer to it. In fact, he thought she was a lot braver than he was, he had to confess that again as he listened to his own answer. "I don't think this is the right time or place for that, actually."

"Ah. I see…" She didn't seem angry or sad about it, only a bit disappointed. As she noticed how he looked at her, she nervously chuckled. "I feel a bit… naked now, after talking about myself that much," she confessed with a smile.

"Please, don't," he hurried to comfort her, "as you were very brave to talk about yourself as you just did. Unlike me, as I'm too much of a coward to do the same thing."

"Now, don't take yourself down like that," she softly said. She didn't say anything more, but hid herself in his arms instead. She sought his comfort oddly easily ever since they'd hidden into the cave, even though it had only been a day now.

He counted his blessings as he put his arms around her once again. Here he was, sitting with the girl he loved the most, knowing she loved him back and with hardly any chance of being disturbed. Now that he thought of it… Now, he had the chance to ask what he'd tried to ask her before. She'd fallen asleep back then, but she should have rested enough to stay awake this time. "Ehm, Sakari?"

"Hm?"

"Remember that I tried to tell you something the other day?"

"Oh…" She blushed at the memory. "That time I fell asleep, you mean? I'm so, so sorry about that! Please, forgive me, I was just so tired and…"

He put his hand against her mouth as he sighed, but with a smile. "Stop your apologies, I never blamed you for it to begin with," he quickly said, "however… will you now let me finish my sentence?"

She nodded, which was a sign for him to take his hand away. He grabbed both of her hands now, looked deeply into her eyes.

"Sakari, you brought up marrying the love of your life, remember?" He was more nervous than he'd thought, but as for now, he was still able to speak without hesitating. Without waiting for a response that might have scared him off, he continued. "And… well, I wanted to talk to you about the exact same thing. I gave you the necklace in the first place to bind us, but I also gave it…" That was the point where he chickened out of it. How hard could it be? "Well, there are so many guys at your Tribe who like you, and…"

"Eh?" She confused him with her ignorance.

"How do you mean, 'eh'? Wasn't it clear obvious, then?" he couldn't help saying.

"As far as I knew, none of them showed interest in me, really," she smiled, a bit uncomfortable with the situation as it was now. "I mean, I heard them talking about me, but…"

He adored her and every single aspect of her, but he wished right now that she wasn't so naïve. "Sakari, guys don't talk about girls they don't like unless it's in no uncertain terms," he sighed, "I overheard them talking, girl. Saying a girl is 'grown up' and stuff like that is just a guy's way to say he's attracted to her."

She was obviously confused by those words. "How do you mean? Why can't they just say they like me, then?"

He moaned out of pure frustration. "Sakari – this wasn't the original subject of our conversation, you know." He'd planned to get back on what he was going to say as soon as he had found the guts to do so, but she made it a lot harder by bringing up his competition.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry," she said, a bit dense now. "Well, say whatever you were going to…"

At that moment, they were both startled by voices outside. They were close, closer than the first time, and they actually heard words. "… Find… soon… Getting dark…"

"I recognize those voices," Sakari whispered, as softly as she could, "if only…" She crept closer to the entrance, although she made sure she wouldn't be seen by the outsiders in case they turned out to be Fire Nation. "It couldn't be… If they're walking around at daylight, that must mean…"

He knew what she meant. The only people she could possibly know around here had to be Water Tribe, and if Water Tribe people walked around in daylight in a village taken over by Fire Nation, that would only lead to one conclusion. The fight that had been battled the other night had ended in favour of the Water Tribe, meaning there was no way Rong could safely get out of here any time soon.

At that moment, Sakari gasped. "It's dad! Rong, it's my father!"

He looked at her face, which was suddenly beaming of happiness. He felt happy for her, but he couldn't deny the sudden empty feeling inside him. He had never hoped that the Fire Nation would win the fight, but the fact they actually didn't had consequences for him as well.

"I see Balto, too," Sakari now remarked, and then she added: "and eh… I heard both of them calling out my name."

"You should get outside, then," he urged her, "you belong with them."

"But I belong with you, too," she whispered, "and I'm not leaving you behind. I can't see anyone else out there, so it's safe for you to get out as well. Balto knows you, after all."

He sniggered. "There's still your dad," he now said, "as if he'd…"

"He approved of us being together," she suddenly said, "have I never told you so? He saw the pendant and asked me about it. He more or less guessed you were a firebender. He told me that he was happy to accept you as long as it made _me_ happy."

He couldn't believe what she was telling him, but the broad smile on her face encouraged him to.

What happened next was a lot in just mere seconds. Sakari tried her best to get out of the cave, right at the moment Balto ran towards them. It remained unclear if he'd actually seen them, or if he'd just guessed they might be hiding there. Sakari seemed about to shout at him, if he hadn't beaten her in that first. He was close enough now for even Rong to see his face, and his desperate expression already told the message before he actually called it out. It was a shock for him, and especially Sakari, nonetheless.

"Sakari, are you there? Please say you are, we've been looking for you everywhere! You must be alive, Sedna needs you more than anything! Oh, dear Lord, I… I think she's dying!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

She was stunned as she heard the news. Her first response was denial, although she realized soon enough that was of no use. She vaguely noticed how Rong behind her squeezed her hand to support her, but she didn't react to that. Sedna dying… It was too odd to be true. Sedna, her tough friend who'd survived a major fire blast! What had happened that she was now standing on the border between life and death? She had to know. Even if it was a trap of some sort, by either Water Tribe or Fire Nation, she had to reveal herself for the sake of her friend. As fast as she could, she left the cave and ran towards the two men. "Balto, I'm here!"

Both Balto and her father looked up right that instant, and her father spontaneously hugged her as soon as she was close enough. "Oh, Sakari, thank the spirits you're alive!"

"You have to come with us, Sedna's in the worst shape!"

"Give my daughter a break," her father scolded Balto, before looking at Sakari again with a worried look in his eyes. "How are you, girl? What happened back there, a kidnap?"

"Oh, don't worry about _that_," Balto shrugged, as he gestured into the direction of the cave.

Rong was just coming out of it, carrying the stuff he'd hidden. It was clear he wasn't planning on returning there any time soon, something that caused Sakari to feel rather disappointed. He was startled by Sakari's father, however, and suddenly seemed alert enough to run away every second.

She quickly turned to him, escaping from her father's grip, and smiled. "Don't worry, Rong, this is my father," she introduced him. "Dad, this is Rong. He's from the Fire Nation, but he isn't like the other firebenders. In fact, he saved my life…"

"And he stole your heart," her father finished her sentence for her with a smile. "I'm right, am I not?"

She nodded with a blush and ran to Rong now, who immediately put his free arm around her shoulders. Even though she'd had quite some time alone with him, she loved it to stay with him for as long as she still could. After all, she didn't know how much longer he'd be around.

Balto didn't seem to like Rong's attention too much, as he stamped towards Sakari with the angriest look she'd ever seen on him. "What do you think you're doing here! You're friend needs you!"

* * *

She was almost scared off as she saw her best friend still lying on the couch. She was as white as a sheet, while her soft blue eyes seemed broken and were opened widely. She was glaring in the distance as if she couldn't see her friend. Also, she was heavily sweating and made sudden movements from time to time.

"Ha… Sedna?"

"I don't want to," Sedna hoarsely whispered, "I'm tired, I don't want to visit grandma…" Her grandmother had been dead for years before Sedna was even born.

"She's raving," Balto sighed, "ever since I came back from the fight, she's been delirious."

Sakari knelt in front of her friend and grabbed her hand – it was cold as ice, but sweaty. "Don't worry, Sedna, we're not going anywhere."

Sedna now sighed in a relieved way. "Okay… don't forget to bring the snowballs," she whispered, before she closed her eyes.

Sakari weakly smiled as she grabbed her bottle of Healing water and opened it. "Don't worry, I'll remember." She opened her friend's shirt now, as there was no other way to reach the wound, and made Sedna giggle with that.

"Don't, Balto, not here…"

Sakari coughed and decided not to pursue that matter any further. The wound she'd now revealed looked bad: it was throbbing and seemed like a giant lump lying on her body. "Oh, dear…" She led the water over the wound, but she already knew it was only of little use. "I don't think I can cure…"

"Don't say it!" Balto shouted, "she must live, she MUST!"

"She isn't in such a dangerous position thanks to the neglected wound," Sakari now remarked. It stung her as she made the remark 'neglected'. "She caught a virus, something like influenza, on top of it. You've let her in the cold!"

"I did not!"

"Oh, no? Then whom I was fighting with the other night, your secret twin brother?!"

At that point, Sedna moaned and opened her eyes. "Mum, is that you?" she softly whispered. "Where have you been? Is dad there?"

Sakari now realized something and looked up in shock. "That's true! Where are they? Where are her parents?"

Balto now bent over to her ear. "They never arrived," he whispered as softly as he could, to prevent Sedna from hearing it. "I waited as long as I could, but her mother never came… I'm afraid that… well, I heard of attacks in the sickbay…"

Sakari shook her head in denial. No, that couldn't be true! Not Sedna's parents, who'd been like her second parents as long as she could remember. "Maybe they're just injured," she whispered, more to convince herself than Balto, "maybe they…"

"Don't count on it," Balto sighed, "for all I've heard, Fire Nation has killed everyone who got in their way. We won the fight, but certainly not the war." He gave Rong a nasty look as he'd said that, although he didn't get a response out of him. Eventually, he looked back at Sakari. "Do you think you can Heal her enough to get her out of danger?"

"I'll try," she whispered. Yes, she would – but she didn't know how hard exactly it'd be.

* * *

Rong was silent as he watched Sakari doing her utmost best at Healing her friend. He could hardly look at what he'd done to Sedna, and he respected Sakari more than ever to be able to bear it all. But he was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear it all for much longer. It was true she'd had rest in the cave, so she shouldn't collapse from exhaustion. Yet he couldn't imagine she could keep up Healing like this for long – it was her best friend who was so severely hurt, after all. And no matter how much he wanted to deny it, his presence wasn't quite helping her either. Rather the opposite, as it tempted Balto to blame him for everything. He knew a lot of what had happened _was_ his fault, of course. He was the one who'd attacked Sedna, even though it'd been an accident. He had taken Sakari with him and thus prevented her from Healing her friend. He hadn't meant to, but it'd turned out to be one of the most stupid things he could have done. Right now, he had practically nowhere to go: his own nation had been defeated, and the Water Tribe hated him as the one who probably was the last remaining firebender in their village. Not to mention the feelings Balto now had towards him.

"Oh, please," he now heard Sakari whispering, "Sedna, don't let me down…"

It broke his heart to see her this sad. He sat down next to her, grabbed her free hand and gently squeezed it.

She looked up at him with a gloomy smile. "Oh, Rong… What have I done…"

"All you could," he assured her, "you've done everything you could have in a situation like this. Blame it on me if you want to blame someone."

"Never," she whispered, as she bent her head. She seemed likely to collapse any second, but still, she didn't give up Healing. He didn't need to guess how much Sedna meant to her.

Looking at her, he felt his heart being almost torn into pieces – he couldn't stand it to see her this sad. He wanted to take her in his arms, but that wasn't so convenient now she was Healing. He compromised by softly wrapping his arms around her waist.

It was silent for a while, until Balto suddenly burst out in anger. "We _should _be blaming you! Both of you! If you hadn't saved that jerk's life, Sakari, none of this would have happened!"

"SHUT UP!" Sakari shouted back at him. Rong'd already let go of her, and thus, he saw tears swelling in her eyes. "Shut up, shut _up_! It was an accident, and you know it!"

"Accident?! My…"

"Stop fighting, both of you." Sakari's father spoke in such a calm tone that both Balto and his daughter quickly shut up. He looked down at his child. "Sakari, you are without a doubt a great Healer, but I don't think you're able to handle this," he now said, "no-one can demand you to Heal your closest friend in a state like this, it's too emotional. I think it'd be for the best if we'd get someone else over here to take over the job."

"_I_ will get a Healer, a proper one!" Balto called, jumping up immediately as if stung by some bug and running to the door.

Rong now suddenly noticed something about him he'd never noticed before – he limped. He shouldn't forget to ask him about it. Even though Balto treated him as his arch enemy now, he still thought of him as a friend. Sunk in thoughts, he was startled by a tap on his shoulder by Sakari's father.

"We should give the girls some rest, don't you think?" But that wasn't what the look in his eyes said. Those lines were different. 'You and I need to talk – alone.'

"Yes, I think we should." Rong stood up and followed the man into another room, although it wasn't easy for him to leave Sakari all alone in tears. But as she gave him an encouraging nod, he put those feelings aside for a moment.

* * *

"Rong of the Fire Nation – you owe my daughter your life, don't you?"

He looked up at the man, rather delighted that his first thought had been the right one – he wasn't hostile against him, Rong, he just wanted to get to know him and have some details confirmed. "I do, sir," he thus answered, "and I'll be grateful for that every day of my life."

"Good," her father said with a satisfied smile. "Now tell me… do you love my daughter?"

He'd expected the question from the beginning, and he knew just 'yes' would do as an answer – but his true answer wasn't just 'yes'. "I don't know if I can describe my feelings for your daughter in just words," he now said, after pondering for a while. "Even though we haven't known each other for that long, I know I need her in my life to be truly happy. I felt like an empty shell in the period I couldn't be with her, how short it might have been. All it takes is her presence for me to feel invincible." He took a deep breath before he finally answered the actual question. "Yes, I love your daughter with whole my heart."

Sakari's father broadly smiled in response. "Thank you. Can you promise me something?"

He wasn't sure what to answer to that, as he didn't know what he should expect. "Well, I…"

"Don't worry, it's nothing you'll find very difficult," the man smiled, "I just want to ask you to make my daughter happy."

He looked up in the utmost surprise, but nodded as quickly as he got what was asked from him. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

The old Healer who was brought in covered Sedna with a warm blanket. "If she gets through the night, she'll manage," she remarked, "you called me in just in time."

Sakari sighed with relief. "Then it's okay," she said in a convinced way, "she'll make it. Sedna's strong." At that moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she quickly looked up. It was into Rong's smiling face.

"Almost as strong as you."

"That's not true," she whispered, falling into his arms in an almost reflex-like action. "But thank you for saying so." It was incredibly comfortable to feel his arms around her like this – safe, despite of the situation. His embrace told her the same thing he kept telling her in words over and over again: 'it's going to be alright.'

* * *

She'd fallen asleep with her head on Sedna's bed as she felt something resembling a finger stroking her spine. As she looked up, she noticed it was a finger indeed, belonging to Rong. He'd knelt beside her and held her waist with his other hand. "Rong?"

He put his finger against her lips: Sedna was still asleep, though not as restlessly as before. "Ssh, keep your voice down," he whispered, "listen, girl, I've done some thinking and… I think it's best for me to just leave now."

"What?!"

"Ssh!"

But she wasn't planning on keeping her voice down after hearing such news. Completely awake now, she tore herself loose from his grip and stood up. "Don't give me your 'ssh'! Where is this coming from? Did my father…"

"Sakari, _quiet_!" he hissed, grabbing her hands as he stood up. "Come, we'll talk this over outside, so you can cool down for a second…"

She was infuriated, but he was too strong for her and she was easily dragged along by him. "Let go of me! I don't get you, I don't get you at all! I thought I knew who you are, I even told you everything about me…" At that moment, she was suddenly stopped in talking as Rong pressed his lips on her, rougher than he'd ever done before. "Hmf…!" She panted as he'd let her go, and noticed he'd run out of breath too. "You're crazy!"

"About you," he added to that as he stroked her face, much to her displeasure now. "And don't you dare to think I actually _support_ this decision of mine, because that's about the least logical thing in this world. I've told you over and over again how much I love you, so do you honestly think I leave you because I want to?"

She wanted to say 'yes', she really did. But as he looked at her, more desperate than she'd ever seen him before, she just couldn't. "No, I don't think that," she now muttered, "but I still don't understand…"

"It's simple. Your father and I have had a little talk," he said, "and though he seemed fine with the idea of you and me together, he… he asked me to make you happy."

"How could your departure make me _happy_?!" she shouted. She lost complete control of herself for a moment, in which she smacked him into the face as hard as she could. It left a bright, red mark on his cheek, but he didn't yell at her for it or smacked her back. The opposite, as he now gave her an earnest look.

"I guess I deserved that one."

"You sure did!" she gasped in fury, "for blaming my father and misleading me! You git, you're just gonna stay here, aren't you?" _Say 'yes' to that_, she begged in her thoughts, _say it was a stupid joke, say you just wanted to scare me, to check out how far you could go before I'd snap or something, please… Anything, except…_

"I'm sorry, Sakari, but I'm really leaving."

_No! _She shook her head in denial, desperately trying to suppress her tears. "You liar! Just when everything seemed to turn out fine, just when Sedna started to look better…"

"I promised your father I'd make you happy," he repeated himself, "and I believe the only way to make you truly happy is leaving you."

He had grabbed her hands now, but she quickly shook them off and opened her bottle of Healing water in a reflex. "Don't touch me, I'll defend myself!" she threatened him.

"Sakari, _listen_! It makes sense, right? Have you ever been happy with me around?" he tried to explain himself. "Truly happy, without the anxious, underlying feeling of fear? Fear of what people would do to you if they found out you were involved with a firebender?"

"As a matter of fact, I _have_ been truly happy, in that cave back then," she shouted, "but I can't recall why anymore, you moron!" She had had it now, and attacked him as powerfully as she could with all the anger bubbling inside her. He didn't even step aside and let the water hit him, much to her frustration. "Fight back!" she called, summoning the water back to her. "Fight! Then I'll at least know I lost my heart to a _worthy_ firebender!"

"I refuse to hurt…"

"FIGHT!" She knew he couldn't, but she also knew how hard he found it to ignore what she told him with so much passion in her voice. She was confused herself – why did she want to fight? Only to release her anger on him?

"Fine! We'll have it your way!" he now shouted, as he visibly lost his patience. The next moment, his fireball clashed with the fierce beam of water she'd sent to him. A huge blast followed, and as a result, both elements had collided into a cloud of smoke.

Suddenly, she recalled her thought in the cave of which she was sure she shared with Rong: 'we are not like water and fire – together, we are the smoke of peace.' Her hands slackened as she swallowed upcoming tears away. She couldn't fight him, she loved him way too much. She just wanted to fight the idea of leaving out of his head, but simultaneously, she realized nothing on earth could achieve that anymore.

* * *

He could hardly look at her now. He could just walk away – at this point, they were enemies, and it'd be a lot easier to walk away from his enemy than from his lover. But as he saw her standing opposite of him, her hair down and with a beaten look in her eyes, his heart ached for her. And he realized at the same time that 'enemy' was out of the question. Without thinking much about it, he ran to her and took her in his arms. Happily, he noticed she didn't protest and wrapped her arms around him in response. "I'm sorry," he whispered near her ear, "I'm so sorry…"

"Then don't go," she sobbed. Her defensive wall against him was gone, and instead, she lied there broken in his arms. "Don't leave me alone…"

"You won't be alone," he reminded her, "your parents are here for you, you've got Sedna, Balto…"

"And memories of you haunting my dreams," she muttered. "Just believe me if I tell you I'm happier with you around than without you…"

"It's not about believing," he whispered, although his heart had made a happy jump. She still wanted him around, even though they'd just fought. "It's about knowing, knowing what's right. And I know it's right to leave you – not because I want to, but because it's the best for the both of us. You won't have a life here anymore if you go snogging the enemy, and I can't take you with me either. Fire Nation would definitely kill me. They already see me as a traitor because I helped out some kids that day we met, remember?" He'd almost convinced himself now, even though his heart kept shouting he should stay with her, elope even if that turned out to be the only solution.

She seemed convinced now, too, and sighed, deeply. "So this is our final goodbye…"

"I'm afraid so," he nodded, "but I'll keep in touch with you, girl. Even if you won't be able to reply to them, I'll send you letters. Is that okay with you?"

She nodded, seized his face and looked into his eyes. He looked back, enchanted by the magnificent blue pools that were her eyes. Suddenly, before he realized it, she kissed _him_ for the very first time. He gently returned it, surprised as he was by her making the first move. It had always been him, but he rather liked this sudden switch.

"I… I lo… well, you know," she then whispered. She seemed to have chickened out already as he quickly embraced her.

"Yes, I know," he smiled. "Do you think you can accept my departure now?"

"I think my brain can, "she nodded, "my heart probably never will."

"Neither will mine." He could only gaze at her as he bent to her once more. He stole a quick kiss from her lips, followed by another one, and another one…

* * *

His mind was still with her as he glared over the handrail of the ship, moments before they'd set sail.

"You sure are a troublemaker, aren't you?" the admiral said behind him. "It's good we've taken you off this mission, that's for certain."

He didn't respond to it, knowing he could only react with sarcasm. Mission? What mission? The firebenders had blown it, but they were too proud to admit it. Instead, they just acted as if the Northern Water Tribe was not of their concern anymore.

Suddenly, he felt something warm and wet on his cheek, and he swept it away in a reflex. "A tear, huh?" he muttered, drying his eyes. "Must be the first time since childhood… Oh, Sakari… why couldn't you have been born in the Fire Nation, or rather – why was _I_ born there?"

* * *

She couldn't remember how she'd managed to get back in Sedna's house again. It had all been fuzzy in her head ever since Rong had taken her in his arms and she'd lost all sight of time. All she knew is that it was already early morning as she lied down next to the couch on which Sedna was still lying. She was sleeping calmly now, much to Sakari's relief. She'd been afraid that with her absence, something might have happened to Sedna and she'd be too late to save her. At last, she fell asleep with her head leaning against the back of the couch.

"Sakari? Have you been here all night?"

She woke up by a familiar female voice, and she looked up in surprise. "Ha… Sedna? You came round?!"

"Well, duh," Sedna smiled. She was sitting up straight on the couch now, as if she'd never been sick before. "A bad sixpence always turns up, doesn't it? Or however the saying goes, I've never been that good at those."

Sakari immediately hugged her, happy beyond words that her friend was her old self again and was not uttering rubbish in her fever.

"Hey, watch it! It's still a little sensitive," Sedna chuckled, as she hugged her back.

"Oh, r-right," Sakari weakly smiled. She noticed a tear had appeared in her eye, but she couldn't trace it – was it of happiness Sedna seemed healthy now, or was it of sadness because of Rong's definitive departure? "I'm s-sorry, I… I just… I'm so happy you're back…" She couldn't contain herself anymore and cried, that intensely that it took a while before she was able to breathe normally again.

"Girl, girl," Sedna sighed as she shook her head. "For some reason, I don't think those tears are of happiness simply because I got through the night… What happened in those hours I've been asleep?"

At that moment, a door slammed, and Balto ran to Sedna immediately with a slight limp as he appeared from the bathroom. "_Sedna_! Oh, thank the spirits, thank everything! How are you feeling?" He pushed Sakari aside without paying much attention to her, and embraced his fiancée that tightly that she seemed likely to choke any time soon.

"Balto, I'm fine," she gasped, "but I doubt I'll be fine any longer if you keep strangling me."

"Sorry! Forgive me!" he almost shouted as he let go of her. He was shining as he looked at her. "You're back, aren't you? You're completely healthy!"

"Well, not completely," Sedna whispered, "the Healer told me that Healing that wound completely was out of the question… I'll be lucky if it ends as a big scar." Her lower lip trembled a bit as she said that. "I'm sorry, Balto… I'm afraid that my body will never be what it used to be again…"

"I don't care," he smiled, kissing her forehead. "I don't care, girl, as long as I still have you by my side. Don't be self-conscious about your appearance, okay? You're the most gorgeous girl on the planet to me."

"O… okay…" Now she was soothed about her own fate, Sedna looked at her best friend again. "Now tell me, what's up with you? Some firebender gave you a similar wound?"

"No, I…" Sakari bent her head, swallowed with difficulty. "The… the firebender that gave you your wound is taking his leave as we speak…"

"Then what the _hell_ are you doing here, sobbing by my side?" Sedna suddenly shouted, "go see him off and tell him that you love him, for the spirits' sake! Knowing you, I bet you never told him before!"

"But…"

"I'll have Balto throw you out if you refuse to follow my order," Sedna smiled with a wink. "GO!"

* * *

"Rong, Rong!" she shouted, even though deep down, she knew it would be of no use. "Where are you? I need to talk to you, now! It's something very important, it can't wait… Please…" She stopped running at the harbour, where the ocean began. She gasped for breath as she witnessed the ships bearing the flag of the Fire Nation sailing off, out of earshot already. If only she'd been five minutes earlier… "It's very, very important," she whispered, sinking down on her knees and laying her hands in her lap. "Very, very, very…" She kept whispering the same word over and over again to herself as she started crying. "I love you," she sobbed through her tears, as she hid her face in her hands. She cried beyond control, and didn't feel like she'd ever be able to get a hold of herself and stop it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Sakari, are you alright?" Sedna asked in a worried voice, as she entered her house again.

Sakari weakly smiled as she dried her last tears. "Kind of," she said, "but I couldn't reach him anymore, the ship was too far away…"

"Rong's gone?" Balto was behind them with a plate bearing several cups of tea. He seemed rather shocked by the news and almost dropped the plate.

"Well, what did you expect after the way you treated him?" Sedna grumbled. "You weren't exactly nice to him, you know. It was a rare occasion you just called him by his actual name instead of 'that lousy firebender' or something like that. And that for someone whom you've treated as your brother for a while!"

"I didn't expect him to leave," Balto muttered, putting the plate down and sitting on the couch next to Sedna. He seemed dreadfully cut up by it. "Dang it – I never got to apologize for my behaviour…"

"If it wasn't for the fact I loved you, I'd say you're a horrible person," Sedna nodded.

Sakari quickly nudged her: she knew her friend was only teasing, but she was afraid it'd be a bit too much for Balto now. She'd seen him angry enough for quite some days to come. "Maybe we should switch to another subject," she hesitantly suggested, "as we can't do anything about this situation anymore…"

"Yes, next subject," Sedna sharply remarked, "Balto, where did you get that limp from?"

"Huh?" Balto didn't seem to be paying attention, and Sedna had to repeat her question before he finally seemed to get it. "Oh, _that._ Nothing, just a wound," he laconically said.

Sedna raised her eyebrow. "Somehow, that's not exactly a big surprise," she remarked, "let's ask it another way… How did you get that wound, how severe is it?"

"Never mind me." Balto stood up now and left the room, watched by Sakari and Sedna in big surprise.

"He seems a bit off all of a sudden," Sedna said, "I don't get him from time to time, honestly. He didn't even drink his tea! Maybe it's poisoned? Don't touch it, Sakari, if you value your life!"

Sakari couldn't help herself but giggle, even though this situation seemed pretty serious. Sedna always had the most idiotic and funniest remarks to cheer up a situation. It was not only therefore that she loved her friend so dearly, but it certainly was part of it. She needed to laugh today, to banish all the negative thoughts out of her mind. It just wasn't as easy as chasing them away with a smile.

* * *

Sakari rolled on her side in the bed in Sedna's guestroom. It was hard to catch sleep in a strange bed, but Sedna'd almost demanded she'd stay the night as she 'shouldn't be alone right now'. She'd made sure it hadn't been clear whom she meant, as Sedna'd used the words 'one of us'. Sakari just guessed she meant the both of them, although it didn't make much sense. Balto had dropped in again late that evening, when Sakari was already getting dressed to go to bed. He and Sedna were still in the living room, which made certain sense: it wasn't very wise to move Sedna to her own bed already after lying down for so long. But Sedna and Balto's late night talking would have kept her, Sakari, awake, if only she hadn't been asleep as she kept pondering about Rong. She now sighed and stood up, with the intention to tell the two of them to please lower their voices. But she lost the ability to speak as she overheard them talking, and she peeked through the opening of the door to see what was going on.

"… fast asleep by now, so you can tell me in all honesty. Both subjects, please." That was Sedna talking, more serious than she'd ever been before. "And don't you dare 'sparing' me! I don't want our future marriage to be based off lies!"

Balto muttered something Sakari couldn't hear, and eventually, he lifted the left leg of his pants.

Even from her safe hideout, relatively far away from the both of them, Sakari gasped out of horror as she saw the state of his leg. Everything from his ankle to his knee was burnt black, and it was no surprise his left leg was much thinner than his right. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed that up until now, as it was so clearly visible.

Sedna seemed in shock too, but she recovered pretty fast. "Why didn't you speak up sooner? There were three Healers around not too long ago, you could have…"

"There's nothing _to_ Heal!" Balto burst out, "that darned firebender burnt almost all of the flesh away! You find it that surprising that I'm limping?!"

"What if I'd get you some water from the Spirit Oasis?" Sedna now carefully remarked, "it's not like everyone can take it, but I think dad might be able to get me some…"

"Sedna, look at me," he said with a gloomy look. He covered his leg again, much to Sakari's relief – it hurt already if she only looked at it. "Be honest, girl… you've heard about the attacks on the sickbay, haven't you? And your parents still haven't shown up…"

"Don't say it!" Sedna suddenly shouted, grabbing his shirt and pressing herself against his chest. "Please don't, it's bad enough already… your leg, Sakari's broken heart… If you tell me this on top of all that, I'm gonna wish no-one had saved me when I was dyin…"

"Now _you _mustn't say _that_," Balto muttered, as he tightly embraced her. He softly kissed her forehead and forced her to look into his eyes. "I wouldn't know what to do without you," he told her, "I've never met anyone as special as you, and I'm sure I'll never meet someone like you ever again. So please, don't you ever say you didn't want your life to be saved, even if just for me…"

"Okay, I won't," she promised him in a muffled voice.

Sakari softly closed the door now and let herself fall on the bed with a heavy heart. The things she'd just heard didn't exactly make the situation any easier.

* * *

"Good morning, sleepy head!"

"Hm…" Sakari carefully opened her eyes and looked right into Sedna's smiling face.

"Morning's almost over and you're still in bed! You needed sleep that badly?"

"_Yes_," she muttered, raising now. She'd seen light already when she'd finally fallen asleep that morning.

Sedna now chuckled. "Well, let's just say you probably deserved it then. Shall I make you a brunch, then? What would you like?"

"You to stop acting so hypocritically merry." She'd said it before she realized it, and Sedna's face fell almost immediately after that.

"Sakari…"

"I overheard you and Balto last night," she now confessed, realizing that lying about it or keeping it silent would be of no use.

To her surprise, however, Sedna suddenly blushed. "R-really? H-how much have you heard?"

"From the moment you asked him to be honest with you until you promised him you wouldn't wish to not have been saved anymore," Sakari said, raising her eyebrow. "Why are you so self-conscious about it? Did I miss something?"

"Few," Sedna sighed with relief. She reddened even more as she added to that: "well, you didn't exactly miss _talking_…"

"Oh!" Sakari realized what was going on now, and she was quick to hide her face in the sheets from sheer embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Forget I said anything!"

"Actually, I won't," Sedna now whispered, "because if I would, I would have to keep this mask of merriness… I can now be honest with you. I… I know you're already going through a hard time yourself, but…" And she suddenly sobbed, causing Sakari to look up in the utmost surprise. As far as she could remember, Sedna'd never cried in front of her. "Oh, Sakari, I love him so much," she cried, hugging her friend as fast as she could. "So much that it hurts – his pain is mine… And then my parents… I know he's likely to be right about them, but I don't want to believe it, I can't… Not mum and dad…"

Sakari embraced her as tightly as she could, though careful not to hurt her. Why wasn't it enough if only one of them was going to a rough period? Why Sedna too? She needed her usual, cheerful self, how selfish it might sound.

* * *

That afternoon was quiet. Neither Sedna nor Sakari dared to speak up, and Balto wasn't very talkative either. As Sedna stated, he was probably not too eager to talk, as the subject would probably go to his leg. His limp had gotten worse now, as if talking about it the other night had aggravated the pain – or maybe he'd only just started to feel it. Sedna stared through the window with an anxious, worried look in her eyes, and Sakari was just sitting there next to her, unsure of what to say. What was there to say, after all? 'Don't worry, I'm sure your parents are alright and there must be a reason why no-one has heard of them'? 'I'll sneak into the Spirit Oasis and grab some water to Heal Balto; it's going to be fine and his leg will be back to full health'? Yeah, right. As if a smart girl like Sedna would buy something like that. But still, she wanted to say something, do something to help her…

At that moment, someone knocked the door, and Sedna jumped up immediately to get it. A familiar voice now sounded from the door, causing Sakari to look up in surprise.

"Is my daughter still here?" It was her father's voice, and as she looked up, Sakari noticed he carried something in his hand. "This letter was delivered at our home a couple of minutes ago by a Messenger Hawk. I think she might want to read it, as it's addressed to her."

"What?!" Sakari'd now jumped up and ran towards her father. "Really?"

"Really," he smiled, handing her the letter. "I took the liberty to look at the sender, and I think you'll like it – but of course, that depends on the message."

She wasn't listening anymore but unrolled the piece of paper – and stared at the sender. Rong… Did he miss her as much as she missed him? She quickly took place in a comfortable chair and started to read the letter.

'_My dearest Sakari,_

_How are you? Is everything alright with you, Sedna and Balto? I meant to ask Balto about the limp he suddenly seems to have, but I never had an opportunity to. I hope you'll ask him in my place and tell him I still consider him as a good friend._

_But that wasn't what I started this letter for. Sakari, I miss you more than I can ever describe in words, so I'm not even going to try. It's that 'bad' that I can't even miss talking to you for one day, so I thought writing you might help. I'm not sure why exactly, as there is not much to tell – after all, I can still see your Tribe when I look over the railing of the ship, even though it's getting smaller by the second. I hope this letter reaches you. Beware of me, though, as I'll probably shower you with letters! It's fine with me if you decide not to respond to them, as long as you give me a notice you've received them. I wouldn't want this letter and the upcoming ones to fall into the wrong hands, even though I won't write big secrets in them. _

_Right now, we're heading back to our own nation to make new plans – I wonder if they'll exclude me from fighting this time, although they'll probably need me. But if, by chance, they won't, I'll visit you as soon as possible. I can't miss you for the world, Sakari. _

_With all my love – Rong._'

She pressed the letter against her chest as if it were a precious treasure. To her, it was: almost as precious as the necklace he'd given her. "You know how to make my day when you're not even here," she whispered to the letter.

At that moment, Sedna waved in front of her eyes to have contact. "And, what is he writing? It is Rong's, right?"

"Yeah… Well, I think Balto might like the first paragraph," Sakari now smiled, handing her the letter, "maybe you should let him read it, too."

"Whatever… Balto! Mail from Rong you might find interesting!" Sedna called out that sentence unnecessarily loudly, as Balto was only a couple of feet away from her.

"What is it?" he responded, not in the most interested voice. He didn't have a choice but read the letter, however, as Sedna pushed it under his nose without accepting 'no, thanks' for an answer. He re-read the first couple of lines over and over again, as if he couldn't believe what it was saying. "He… still sees me as a friend," he eventually remarked, a bit superfluously though, as Sakari'd already read the letter.

Sedna now nudged her friend. "Seems like that letter made more than one person happy today," she grinned.

Sakari looked up with a smile. "Yes…" Even with him absent, Rong made the mood much merrier all of a sudden. She was happy because he was thinking of her, Balto was incredibly glad he was still thought of as a friend, and Sedna… Knowing her character, she was just happy with her friends' happiness.

And indeed, Sedna didn't stop smiling that entire evening.

* * *

"You know where your letter needs to go," Sakari smiled, as she attached her return letter to the Messenger Hawk. Of course, the creature didn't answer, but took flight immediately. She blushed when she remembered the letter she wrote back – it had been short, but sincere.

'_Dear Rong,_

_To my happiness, I received your letter. It didn't just cheer _me _up._

_I'm unfortunate to say Balto's left leg was badly injured in battle, and it's unlikely he'll ever be able to walk normally again. He wanted me to tell you he's extremely happy, though, as you still see him as your friend._

_I miss you too – it feels as if you took half my heart with you. I hope you'll come to return it to me soon._

_With even more love – Sakari._'

She wondered if she'd written down the right words, but then again – knowing Rong, he'd be happy with any response of her. He was like that, she knew him good enough. But it kept bothering her he'd never told her much about himself, except for his past. She knew his life, but she didn't know _him _as well as he knew her.

* * *

In the days that followed, Sakari and Rong picked up a lively correspondence. She had to beware no-one intercepted their letters, but as people got used to the sight of a Messenger Hawk flying back and forth, they quickly lost interest in what it was transporting. To Sakari, receiving a letter was a party by itself. After all, it was a sign Rong was real: he was fine, he was alive, and he was still in love with her. She took it that way, at least, as he never mentioned a cute Fire Nation girl or anyone else who'd taken her place. And besides, his letters still told her he loved her. But no matter how happy she was to read such lines, she never once returned them to him. Oh, sure, she ended her letters with 'lots of love', but it was different from an actual sentence saying what he meant to her. Was she just too shy to admit it, too careful maybe as she still feared it might be intercepted? She couldn't put a finger on it. Then again – she felt she had to tell him.

* * *

One day, around a week before her sixteenth birthday, she decided to return to 'their' cave. She didn't know why she felt that sudden eager to do so, but she felt it'd make her feel closer to him. Simply to revive old memories of the happy moments she'd spent in his arms meant a lot to her.

But as she entered the cave, she was welcomed by a surprise. Actually, several surprises, as several loud barking noises sounded as soon as she was in. "Seems like you guys have invaded this cave," she giggled at the group of Turtle Seals. "Could you make some space so that I fit in, too?"

The group wasn't too big, but then again, the cave wasn't very big, either. One curious Turtle Seal now pushed his nose in Sakari's hand, and she petted him with a smile.

"Sorry, buddy, you'll have to go out looking for your own food," she had to disappoint him, "I've got nothing, as I didn't count on running into you and your friends."

The animal made a sneezing sound and dragged himself outside, followed by some others. There was now space enough for Sakari to get into the cave without much difficulty, and thus, she took place next to a young looking Turtle Seal. It looked at her in surprise, but it didn't move away from her.

"No worries, I'm just here for sentimental reasons," she assured him, "not to hunt you or something."

"Umrph," the animal did. To her surprised, it snuggled a bit closer to her.

"Shouldn't you be scared?" she remarked in an astonished voice. As an answer, she received a look from the seal with big, innocent eyes, making her snigger. "You're cute! And probably, too young to realize humans can be dangerous," she concluded. "Lucky you that it's only me this time, but you might not be this lucky the next time. So be careful, okay?"

At that moment, there was a rustle at the entrance, causing some Turtle Seals to jump up startled.

"W-who's there?" Sakari asked, trying to keep her voice in a normal tone.

"Is that you, Sakari?" The voice sounded a bit familiar, but she couldn't recognize it immediately.

"Answer me first," she demanded.

At that moment, the speaker revealed himself with a smirk. It was a waterbender from her Tribe whom she remembered from the fight she'd joined, almost a month ago now. He'd been one of the young men who'd commented on the fact she was joining them. "Aw, come on! Don't say you don't recognize me, we played in this cave when we were kids!" he now said.

She now recognized him as Yukon, whom she indeed knew from childhood – the last time they played together was twelve years ago. "Oh, hello, Yukon," she smiled. She'd always thought he had a dumb name, actually, but it'd be a bit mean to remark that now. "Long time no see. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing special," he said, walking to her, "just checking on the Turtle Seals, that's all. They've been here for two weeks, and I sometimes come around to feed them."

"That explains why they're not afraid of me," she now said, standing up. "But you'd better not do that – they'll start trusting humans and we both now some men of our Tribe like to hunt them."

Yukon simply shrugged. "Maybe. They prefer the younger ones anyway for their fur."

"Disgusting," Sakari remarked. She'd rather not think about that, even though she knew very well that some of the warm furs in her home had in fact been baby seals'.

Yukon had thought of that too, as he pointed at the fur on her coat. "Hypocrite," he then said.

"At least I didn't hunt them!"

"Hm." He now smiled, looked into her eyes. "You've always been a rare girl, for as far as I can remember," he now remarked. "Look at you, wearing your hair down instead of going with the usual hairstyles… Has no-one ever scolded you for it yet?"

"I mostly wear my hair braided when going out," she now answered, even though she didn't feel much for the kind of conversation that it turned into now. She hated it to be pointed at the customs she should stick to in her Tribe.

"Ah. Double hypocrite," he now reproached her, although he did so with a smile. "Doesn't matter, though, as it makes you who you are. Hey, what do I spot? You're wearing a betrothal necklace already? I thought your sixteenth birthday was next week, you early bird!" He tried to reveal the stone pendant, but she hastily gripped it before he could spot the carving.

"None of your business," she hissed.

He stopped smiling now, and grabbed both of her hands. "Actually, it is," he now said. "As I've been planning to go ask your father for your hand. Can't I at least know who stole you away from me?"

"_No!_" She knew she denied too fast and too fiercely – it was obvious now something was going on. She startled the Turtle Seals with her call, and some of them started to move around nervously. She felt around her to find something to hold onto, as the moving of the seals almost threw her off her feet… And she caught something. It just wasn't what she wanted to catch. Yukon's hands.

"Don't let go."

"Yeah, you _wish_!"

"Fine, then we'll have it your way and I'll just drop you in between those seals."

"No you won't!" She was infuriated, but knew she had to give it up. If he let her go, she'd fall and she'd be likely to be crushed by the movements of the animals, especially by their shells. And thus, she had to let Yukon take advantage of the situation and held on to his arms.

He didn't seem to mind, and pulled her even closer to him as they waited until the Turtle Seals had calmed down again.

"You can let me go now," she said in a demanding voice. It surprised her he actually did as he was just told, until she saw the look in his eyes: he seemed either terrified or in shock, she couldn't really see the difference. "What is it?" She noticed too late that she was no longer covering her pendant with her hands, and the carving was perfectly visible now.

"That stone…" Yukon almost whispered. "Why has it flames carved in it? Is your betrothed…"

"What are you talking about?" she tried to avoid the point. But she knew he wasn't stupid, and he'd already noticed by her behaviour that he was probably right.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," he hissed, grabbing her hands again. "There's only one reason for a Fire Nation symbol to be in that stone, and that's if you're engaged to a firebender!"

"That's not…" But she couldn't say 'true' for some reason. As if something inside her prevented her from ignoring her feelings for Rong – it'd be a lie to say her necklace didn't come from a firebender, after all. "It's not…" she tried again, but she just couldn't pronounce the words.

Yukon smiled in a nearly insane way now. "Tell me, what did he offer you?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Well, you're in a league with the enemy now," he simply said. "And if even your father accepted him, he probably offered you something great to make it attractive. So what is it? How can I outbid him?"

"What?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing, and tore herself loose as powerfully as she could. "Outbid him? I'm not some animal you buy at the local market place!"

"Fine, then. If you won't accept me – I think some people in this Tribe might like the news I've just gotten out of you." And he left the cave, much to her displeasure.

"Hey, you didn't get something out of me and… where are you going!"

"To the Chief," Yukon responded, as he'd almost left the cave now. "Unless…"

She was petrified, and she knew she was defeated if he actually did as he threatened. She'd be banished for life at _least_ if people would found out about her relationship to Rong. It'd only take a short amount of time to question all Water Tribe guys who could have asked for her hand, and if no-one turned out to have, that'd be proof enough. "Unless what, Yukon?" she now asked. She wasn't exactly willing to accept his conditions to keep silent, but she had to do anything. Anything at all, but she could only hope and pray he wouldn't ask…

"Have me accepted as your betrothed instead."

_Oh, dear spirits, no! Save me!_

* * *

PS: I took some creative license for some things, like the Turtle Seals, the fact not anyone can go and grab water out of the Spirit Oasis and Balto's leg not being able to be healed.  
Yukon is asking for Sakari's approval of him asking for her hand, as she'd probably smack him in the face and walk away if he'd just hang a necklace around her neck without a warning first. She's like that )


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"You, firebender! Will you ever get out of that hut of yours or _what_?"

"Yes, admiral! I'll be out in a second!" Rong shouted back. He sighed now, looked at the piece of paper in front of him on his desk. This was the most difficult letter he'd ever written, but he knew it had to be done.

A month ago, he'd decided to make Sakari happy. He'd started to write letters to her, and judging by her responses, that made her happy, indeed. But he just couldn't believe she was truly happy with living in lies – after all, she couldn't tell anyone about them. And it'd only be a matter of time before someone took a closer look at her necklace… It'd been stupid, looking back at it, to carve his own symbol in it, although it had seemed the most logical thing at the time. At the moment, however, the most logical thing was to make her truly happy. He owed her that for saving his life and giving him the most wonderful period in it. But that same period hurt him. It hurt to remember and knowing that time would never come back. Never again could he hold her in his arms in that cave in a stolen moment, never again would he taste her sweet lips. Never would he see her shining face again, framed by her thick and beautiful hair, and never could he look into her intriguing eyes once more that carried him away to better places. But it hurt even more to think that she was still expecting him to return, probably asking her father not to accept any other man's proposal because she wanted to marry him, Rong. Truth being told, he wanted to return more than anything; he wanted to share his life with her. He wanted to be able to look into her face any time of the day and tell her how much he loved her again, and he wanted to see her smile shyly as she always did whenever he told her that. But it wasn't meant to be because of this stupid, insane war, and thus, there was only one way to make her truly happy. He had to let her go, and she had to let _him_ go. There was only one, drastic way to achieve that.

"I'm sorry, Sakari," he whispered, taking a last look at his letter, "I'm sorry, but for your sake, I'll have to die…"

* * *

'_My dearest, dearest Sakari,_

_How many times have I already told you what you mean to me? Anyway, I'm telling you again in this letter. You mean the world to me, girl; even more, you're my air, and I need you to breathe. I dream of you every single night, of your beautiful eyes and your enchanting smile. I wished to have seen them more often. All I can ever think of is our short but happy period together, like when we were in that cave. In despite of the situation, it was the happiest day of my life. I will never, ever be able to forget about it, and neither will I forget about you and my feelings for you. I will always cherish you in my heart. I love you, deeply and truly, and it's the first and probably the only time I have felt and will feel this way about someone. I will always bless the day you saved my life, and not just _because_ you save my life. No – because it's the day I met the love of my life. You, Sakari._

_With whole my heart – Rong._'

Sakari lowered the letter, stared at it. "This seems like a farewell," she gasped, "that can't be true… right? Right?!" She looked up at Sedna, who'd been reading along over her shoulder.

* * *

After Yukon's sudden 'proposal', she'd run away, but she hadn't been quick enough. He'd caught up with her in no time, and he'd grabbed her arms as soon as he'd reached her to prevent her from running away any further.

"Don't run away on me," he'd hissed, "or I'll report that pretty necklace of yours to people who'll find it _very_ interesting."

"You're blackmailing me!"

"Oh, very quick," he'd responded with a grin, "it's easy. I'm even giving you a choice to reject me, a chance that no other Water Tribe girl's ever been given before for as far as I know. But you're special, and I accept that and admire that. That's why."

"You're not giving me a choice!" she'd called out.

He'd eventually decided to be 'generous' as he'd told her: "fine, then. It must be a shock because of the fact it's so sudden, so I'll give you… let's say, a month, starting from your birthday. In that month, you can get rid of your firebender and put other things at order. Then, you come back to me and give me your ultimate answer, okay?"

She'd had to give in – it was the best option she had now her 'cover' had eventually been blown.

* * *

"I wouldn't know, Sakari," Sedna sighed in answer to her question. "I really wouldn't know… Why don't you write him a letter back and ask?"

"But what if I misunderstood?" she now hesitated, "I wouldn't want him to think I want to get rid of him…"

"Then you shouldn't nag," Sedna shrugged. "By the way, you said you were in trouble before I handed you that letter – spit it out."

"I don't want to bother you with it," Sakari quickly said.

Sedna was going through enough already. She was determined to carry on with the wedding, even though Balto's leg was still in a pretty bad shape, and it was planned for mid-winter. She'd been trying to Heal Balto's leg, but had to call for help as in the end, she turned out to be unable to. She'd now requested water from the Spirit Oasis, but the offer was still pending to be accepted, and Sakari wondered if the ones in charge had actually already read it.

And then there were her parents – or rather, they weren't. No-one knew if they were dead or alive. All the bodies from the sickbay were already identified, but none of them turned out to be Sedna's parent. The uncertainty was eating her, Sakari noticed that in everything she did or said. Most likely, the Fire Nation had taken them, although she still hoped the two of them had fled and simply didn't know the firebenders had left the village a while ago already.

All these worries together had suddenly turned Sedna from a merry, positive girl into a near depressed young woman filled with grief. And therefore, Sakari didn't want to bother her even more by telling her about Yukon and his actions.

"Sakari, I'm your best friend – I _need_ to know."

"But really, it's nothing," she stuck to her point, "in fact, it's almost solved anyway. It's not even worth the effort to talk about it."

"Hm." Sedna was clearly not all too happy with that answer, but duty called as she had to help Balto, who'd just returned from a visit to family, back into the house. He managed pretty well in everyday life with such a damaged leg, although without a stick, walking was very hard for him. Sedna'd now put him on the couch, gave him a cup of tea she'd just prepared and took place next to him, snuggling close to him.

"I can't believe you want to marry a crippled man," Balto now sighed as he put his arm around her.

Sedna looked up at him with a smile. "And I can't believe _you_ want to marry a girl who's physically no longer attractive," she responded, referring to the scars on her chest her burn mark had left.

Balto however quickly silenced her with a kiss, a sign to Sakari to get up and walk herself out.

She didn't belong here anymore – Balto and Sedna's love for each other was too strong to bear a third person in the same room. She felt locked out, she couldn't help it. The two of them had so much more in common than she and Sedna, let alone she and Balto. Their wounds had actually made them even closer, while Sakari was undamaged – at least physically, as Sedna'd expressed so before. Inside, Sakari was as much hurt as the other two were outside. But Balto and Sedna had each other at least: Sakari was left alone by the one she loved so deeply. And it hurt.

* * *

"Happy birthday, Sakari!"

She smiled at her friends, who'd come over to her house to celebrate with her. Even her mother, who had mostly been in a grumpy mood ever since her daughter had turned out to be an excellent waterbender, was pretty merry this morning. Probably because she thought that she'd soon be betrothed anyway, as she was now of marrying age.

Sakari was happy to share her birthday with Sedna and Balto, but she couldn't say the same about Yukon's presence. He'd started to hang around at her place quite often after the ultimatum he'd given her. Truth being told, he had his nice moments, but whenever it was just the two of them, he kept reminding her of the time she'd left to give him her answer. "You know your month has started now, don't you?" he hissed near her ear as he shook her hand to congratulate her.

"Thank you, Yukon," she said in response to his congratulations, followed by a whispered: "I know, and don't bite my head off, or I won't even be _able_ to answer you!"

"Good girl." He then took a seat as if nothing had happened, but she hated him more than ever.

She hadn't been looking forward to her birthday anyway, but his presence made it even worse. Not to mention the fact she'd been lonelier than ever for the past week. Even though she'd eventually sent Rong a letter back, asking what his message was all about as it sounded as a goodbye, she never received an answer. She was beginning to worry now, as he usually sent her letters twice a week. Had it truly been a goodbye, did he know he was going to get killed or something like that? Or had he just not found the time yet to write her back? She didn't know, and she wasn't exactly feeling comfortable about it.

* * *

He folded the letter he'd just finished, sighed deeply. It had never been so hard to write a letter, but this one… It put an ultimate end to everything he never wanted to end. With the words written, he knew he was hurting Sakari more than anything else ever would, but he also knew it was the only way to release her from anxiety. How could she ever be able to live among waterbenders if her heart was still with him, a firebender? No, even though he wished there was a way for them, he had to be rational: he had to give her up.

"Hey, could you do me a favour?" he asked. He'd left his hut and he'd spoken to a fellow firebender, one of the few ones who were still treating him as a human being after his disappearances in the Northern Water Tribe.

"Oh, sure," he answered, a bit surprised, "what is it?"

"I need you to copy this in your own handwriting," he said, handing him the letter he'd just finished. "The receiver can't know I wrote it myself, and they recognize my handwriting."

"Of course. Let me see…" He read the letter several times, and eventually looked up at Rong with a raised eyebrow. "Geesh, man, are you sure? If you just want to ditch some chick… There are easier ways to do so, y'know."

"Trust me, not in this case," Rong sighed. He realized it now looked as if this was the only way to get rid of her, rather than the only way to make her happy. But he also knew this was a better way to avoid suspicion.

The firebender whistled now, impressed. "Whew… never expected you to be such a lady-killer, literally," he finally remarked. "However, I'll copy this letter for you and give it an official stamp, then. I owe you." He then walked away, and Rong fell back on his chair in a relieved way. It was true that the firebender owed him, which was probably the main reason why he still treated him as a normal person. In fact, it had also been a matter of love in which Rong'd helped him out. The firebender had lost his heart to a charming firebending girl, but she was pretty fierce – literally. Rong'd managed to talk her into listening first before attacking him, and now, she was anxiously awaiting the return of her lover. They'd soon turn their engagement into marriage.

Rong couldn't help himself but feeling a little jealous – if only Sakari had been a fire… No, he should stop thinking about that now. She wasn't a firebender, she wasn't Fire Nation. She was of the Northern Water Tribe, she was… always in his heart, his true love… What had he done, writing that stupid letter?!

But it was already too late, as the other firebender had returned now with the copied letter. "Done," he said, "it wasn't that long, so it didn't take me much time. Are you sure you want to go through with this? I'm sorry to say so, but you're not very convincing with that 'I need to get rid of an annoying fan' or whatever you're trying to pull off here."

"It's fine, thank you," he sighed, "I'll send it."

"That doesn't make any sense," the firebender remarked, "you don't want the receiver to know you wrote it, but you're going to send it with the Messenger Hawk you've been using all along? Yeah, right. That's convincing, buddy."

"How do you know…"

"I have eyes," he grinned, "I've seen that creature flying in and out almost every day. Now, give me that letter, I'll find another bird to deliver it for you. Where does it have to be sent to?"

"Never mind, I'll do it myself," Rong hastily said, as he took the letter back. He'd been too hasty, he knew that as soon as he looked up at the guy. He'd given himself away, and there was nothing he could do to deny it with conviction.

"Northern Water Tribe?" the firebender had already guessed.

Rong bent his head, beaten, and waiting for a call for the admiral. But that failed to occur.

"Ah, I get it now," the firebender sighed, taking place on an empty chair. "This explains quite some things… Don't worry, bud, I won't tell your secret to anyone. I told you – I owe you, and I owe you a lot more than just copying a letter for you."

He couldn't believe his ears, and he was on his guard. It could still be a trick, after all, even though he pretty much trusted this guy. "Ehm, I… Eh…"

"Don't go explain it, I think I get it," he smiled. "You two love each other, right? You and some Water Tribe girl. So that's why you took off so many times and were so reluctant to fight against the waterbenders… I take it you want her to carry on with her life, as the war divides you two. That's why you're sending this letter. I'm right, ain't I?" He didn't even await his answer and grinned. "Man, people in love are so easy to see through! Oh, anyway… I promised I'd sent this letter for you, so I will." He stood up now, but gave Rong a piercing look before he left. "I'll take the slowest Messenger Hawk I can find."

Rong knew what that meant – he'd still have time to think it over. "Thank you," he said, just before the door was shut. He found it hard to believe, but he actually had a friend among the firebenders. It was a first.

* * *

Only one week left…

Sakari'd heard that message over and over again today. Yukon was practically stalking her, although no-one seemed to notice. He was sneaky enough to stay out of the way whenever Sedna and Balto were around, but that wasn't too often anymore lately. The two of them were busy planning their wedding and Sedna was trying everything she could to help Balto with his leg. The water from the Spirit Oasis had been given to them now, and with some help of her old teacher, Sedna was busy Healing for at least half the day. Balto's leg indeed looked better now, although he still couldn't walk properly.

And Sakari… she felt locked out once more. She understood that Sedna and Balto wanted to spend their time together, of course, but she wanted some time with her friends too. She hoped it would change soon, but she didn't really count on it. After all, that 'soon' had to be this week, before she had to make her choice. Whatever it would be, it wouldn't be good to Sakari herself. She wasn't exactly happy to have Yukon as her betrothed, but she didn't want her secret out, either. But she had to choose: choose between a married life with someone she didn't love, and an uncertain life with still the possibility to meet up with the one in her heart… It was difficult, although she inclined towards the second option. They'd probably banish her from the Tribe once it got public she was involved with a firebender, meaning she had to leave the place she'd grown up and that had all the people she cared for. But then, she would be free to go and find Rong… But was it worth it? Was a life with Rong worth giving up the world she loved? She had to think, she needed a place to think it out.

But she didn't get a chance to think, as a Messenger Hawk suddenly dropped out of the air as she'd only set one foot outside. It didn't notice her, it seemed, but it did fly into her house immediately. Her heart jumped up – mail for her? It appeared to be, as Rong always used a Messenger Hawk. But this one didn't look like the one that usually brought her his messages. Had something happened to it or was it just too tired to deliver another letter? Of course, that was why it'd taken so long for Rong to reply to her letter! "I think your letter is meant for me," she smiled, as she approached the Messenger Hawk, which was sitting on the chair now.

It made an awful noise, hurting her ears, but eventually dropped off the message. It was a bit illogical for Rong to choose a bird like this one to replace the other one, as this Messenger Hawk seemed at least twice the age of the other one.

"Good bird," Sakari smiled, as she grabbed the letter and opened it. "Just wait here for a while so I can give you my reply." She read the letter quickly, and her heart almost stopped as she'd finished it. "No… no, this can't be…" She read it again, but the paper still had the same words on it. "No… NO!" She dropped the letter and just stood there, petrified. She couldn't believe it.

The Messenger Hawk gave another awful scream and then took flight again.

* * *

"Sakari! What's up, where's the fire?" Sedna grinned, as her friend suddenly barged into her house. "You never walk in without knocking…"

"Here." She pressed the letter into her friend's hand, ignoring Balto who'd just wrapped his arms around his fiancée and seemed pretty disturbed by her sudden appearance. "Read it. Out loud, please."

Sedna raised her eyebrow, but opened the letter anyway and started to read. "_To the receiver of this letter. We are unfortunate to inform you that…_" She'd read ahead already, and stared at Sakari. "Dear spirits, no… You truly want me to continue?"

"If you don't, I won't believe it," Sakari said with a blank expression in her eyes.

"O… Okay… _inform you that Rong, a fully trained firebender and respected member of the Fire Nation navy, has fallen in battle._"

"Fallen?" Balto interrupted her, "you don't mean… Don't say…"

"_He shall be greatly missed among us_," Sedna continued, sweeping away a sudden tear. "_As he's been known to contact you on regular base, we wanted to let you know about his passing and we want to give you our sympathies. His death was sudden, but he died a hero. We hope that may ease your pain a little. We also wanted to let you know he'll have a proper cremation in private according to Fire Nation traditions. Signed: the Fire Nation navy._"

A silence had fallen now. Sedna was sobbing, Balto's face was completely pale, and Sakari just stood there.

She hadn't cried ever since she'd read the letter, despite of the horrible message. She thought she was just reading what was her fear, not what was really written. Even now Sedna'd read it out loud, she still couldn't believe it.

"Sakari… You can cry," Sedna now whispered, as she stood up and embraced her friend. "Please, cry… I can't look at you with such an empty face…"

But she couldn't. She let go of her friend now, shook her head, and left the house again.

* * *

She ran, ran as fast and as far as her feet could carry her, and eventually reached the harbour. It was the place where she'd seen him for the last time, even though he'd been just a little dot at the horizon already by that time. And now, he'd never show up anymore… It was too hard to cope with it, she just couldn't. How dared he? How dared he dying?! How could he just leave her! Angry as she'd suddenly gotten, she flung several stones into the water, which didn't do her any good. "I hate you!" she now shouted, even though there was no-one out there to hear her. Summer was at its end, and it was cold enough already to force everyone back into their houses. "I hate you! How could you leave me, how dare you!" She fell down on her knees now, bent her head in despair. "But I love you… I love you so much that it hurts…" She wrapped her arms around her legs as she sat down now, despite of the cold ground she was sitting on. And finally, finally – she could cry.

A soft, sniffling noise brought her back to her senses. As she looked up, with tears running down her cheeks, she noticed a little koalaotter looking up at her curiously.

"Hello, little fellow," she whispered, as she hid her face in her clothes again. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your mummy?"

The creature sniffed at her shoes, the fur on her clothes, and eventually, it lay down against her, snuggling against her leg.

She could actually snigger a bit now, even though the tears didn't stop. "That's dangerous," she told him, "I'm so much bigger than you, and you ought to know you can't trust bigger creatures that aren't your mother…"

But the little koalaotter didn't respond to that and yawned before it closed his eyes.

"Hey, little one, really," Sakari now whispered, "you'd better leave me alone, I mean it. You need your mummy…" And at that moment, she realized something. Thanks to the Fire Nation, there hadn't been too much food around for koalaotters in both the sea and on the land. Maybe this little one's mother hadn't survived a small famine? "Where's your mummy?" she now asked, even though she knew the creature couldn't answer her.

But it looked up at her now, yawned again, and snuggled that close to her that it was easier to take it on her lap for Sakari anyway. And thus, she did, much to the pleasure of the little thing. It made a happy sound and curled itself now, so that it resembled a little fur ball.

"You're cute," Sakari weakly smiled, as she carefully and softly caressed it. "Well, if you're alone too, maybe we could keep each other company…"

* * *

She'd taken a decision now about her choice, and together with the little koalaotter that gave her strength, she went to Yukon's house. She'd found out the koalaotter was female, and was indeed only a couple of months in age. She didn't know if it was wise, but she'd decided to take her as a pet for now with quite some freedom. She needed some company, company she didn't expect to get from Yukon on whose door she'd just knocked.

He quickly opened, and looked at her with earnest surprise. "Well, hello," he said, "one beautiful girl and a cute koalaotter at my doorstep, at my service!"

"I've taken a decision," Sakari said, as calmly as she could, "so could we come in?"

"Sure! That's quick," he smirked, "you have another week to think about it, are you sure?"

"Absolutely." She lifted the koalaotter before she entered and carried it inside. There, she closed the door behind her with her foot and looked up at Yukon. "As I said, I've decided in the 'choice' you gave me."

"Not so sarcastic, I _gave_ you a choice!"

"Our definitions of 'choice' clearly differ," Sakari sighed, "but that doesn't matter anymore now, I guess…"

"Please come to your point." He was impatient, but she couldn't really blame him for it. After all, he'd been waiting for a month already.

"Fine, then. My answer is yes," she now said, with a blank expression in her eyes. "I want you to ask my father for my hand."

"What?! You-you're serious? Really, really serious?"

She had surprised him more than she'd thought, and she thought she could spot a happy shine in his eyes. "Yes, Yukon. Really." She didn't move as he wrapped his arms around her, although she'd preferred Rong's. But he wasn't there anymore, and she knew he'd wanted her to do what was best for her. And even though she rather disliked it, the best for her now was to go with the customs of her Tribe. She had had a lot more freedom than the average girl by having the opportunity to reject the one proposing to her, so it wasn't her place anymore to complain.

But she couldn't help the anxious feeling inside that told her she was doing the wrong thing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

An old Messenger Hawk alighted on the chair in Rong's room, and he knew what his arrival meant.

"Message delivered," his friend, who was in the same room, sighed.

"Yeah. I know." Rong leant against the wall with his arms wrapped around himself. "I know… dear Agni, what have I done…"

"Y'know, it's not for…"

"It _is _forever!" he now shouted, "I'm dead to her! It's not like she's just going to accept it if I send her another letter saying 'hey, I'm not dead, I just said so because I wanted you to go on with your life'!"

"Well, actually, I think she _will_ accept it," his friend carefully remarked. "She loves you, right? I'd imagine she'd be beyond herself of joy if you turned up alive after all. As long as you leave out the part you wrote that letter yourself, it is."

"I can't," Rong groaned, "I can't do that to her. And besides, it's not like we'll have a life together just like that!"

"Geesh, you _are_ stubborn," his friend sighed, as he took the Messenger Hawk on his arm. "When there's a will, there's a way. Just work up the guts and get over your pigheaded self!" He now simply walked away on him, and it wasn't very irrational to think he'd had enough of Rong's outburst of anger.

Rong sighed again and now closed his eyes. Stubborn… was he? Or was he – as he liked to tell himself – just selfless enough to let the person he loved go? Maybe it wasn't so selfless after all, but actually rather self_ish_. Selfish to avoid the trouble he'd have to go through to make Sakari part of his life. It was true, after all: when there was a will, there was a way. He'd kept telling himself he loved her with whole his soul, but was that actually true if he wasn't fighting for a way to be with her? Or had he been lying to her in that cave, and had he been writing words without a meaning to her all along? No, that wasn't true. He had meant everything from the bottom of his heart, he'd been telling the way he felt. Then why was he – indeed – so stubborn?

* * *

"You're breathing in my neck, Yukon."

"Mm. I know." He shoved the stone pendant on the choker she was already wearing, minutes after he'd taken off the fire and water stone that actually belonged there. He was slow in a pestering way when it came to switching them, and he'd held his face close into her neck all along. "You smell lovely, you know that? My fiancée."

"Betrothed," she corrected him, as she firmly placed her hand on his. "And I'll take that from here, thank you very much."

"Brr, it's cool here all of a sudden," Yukon grinned, but he did let go of her now. "And I thought I wouldn't need my coat in here! Well, I'll just have to grab Fluffy to keep me warm, then." He lifted the little koalaotter, which had been asleep on Sakari's feet, and rubbed her cheeks.

"It's _not_ Fluffy," Sakari groaned, as she quickly fixed the necklace in a fraction of the time Yukon'd needed. "And besides, if you rub her cheeks when she's only just awake, she'll…"

"OUCH!"

"… bite you." She couldn't help grinning as Yukon quickly put the creature back on the floor and cursed as he tried to stop his finger from bleeding with a tissue. In the mean while, she grabbed the stone pendant Rong'd given her from the table and let it slid into her pocket. Yukon'd meant to throw it away, but she wanted to save it. It was, after all, the only touchable memory she had left of him.

"I don't care what her name is, she's a little…"

"Geesh, stop whining already," Sakari sighed. She now opened the bottle of water she was, as always, carrying with her and walked towards Yukon. "Come here with that hand of yours."

He stretched it out to her – it was just a small cut, and the bleeding had already stopped.

Sakari quickly led the water over the wound as she sighed again. "Tsk, you poser… There, it's already fixed." The water could go back into the bottle within seconds, and Yukon gave her a grateful look.

"Thank you – I owe you."

"No, you don't," she simply said, "women are expected to be their husbands' personal Healers."

"No-one ever said that."

"So what? That doesn't make it less the truth."

He suddenly smiled now and took her hand. "You're a rare one," he said, pressing a sudden kiss on her hand. "But then again, that's probably why I'm so attracted to you."

"It's not mutual, and you know it," she coolly said as she tore her hand away from his.

He simply shrugged his shoulders to that. "Whatever. We're still getting married, so I'll have you around anyway. That's enough for now."

Yes, married… She couldn't help thinking what her life would have been like if she'd never received that final letter from the Fire Nation navy. Would Rong have returned to her to save her if she'd written him about Yukon? Would he have claimed her as his own? She was almost absolutely positive about the first thing, but not so sure about the second. After all, if he'd truly wanted to, he could have stayed the day he'd decided to leave to claim her his. He could have taken her with him, they could have gone to… well, the Kyoshi Islands for all she cared. Maybe being a Kyoshi Warrior actually suited her. Now if only Rong had lived, if only he would have stayed with her… Hadn't he loved her enough to stay, had he begun to have second thoughts about the two of them as a couple? But they'd been so close in that cave, which was now the symbol of their love to her…

"What are you daydreaming about? The wedding?" Yukon grinned. "Me too, as a matter of fact. Y'know, I was thinking we could hold it in the Spirit Oasis at full moon…" He suddenly stopped talking and laid his hand against her cheek, which she quickly rubbed off.

"Don't touch me!"

"You find the idea of marrying me that repulsive that it makes you cry?" he now remarked, with a pained look in his eyes.

"Eh?" It took her a while to notice tears were running down her cheeks again, indeed. They must have started as her thoughts had wandered back to the times she'd spent with Rong. "Oh… nothing, it's just a bit dust or something, or maybe a hair from the koalaotter," she quickly said, "it's a little irritated, that's why I'm crying."

The look in his eyes already told her he didn't buy it. "Sakari, not even an entire koalaotter in your eye could cause that many tears," he remarked, "something's going on here, and I want to know what."

"What would you…"

"I _care_."

She looked up in surprise: he seemed earnest about it… She felt tempted to pour out her heart, though she also felt she just couldn't. Not to the guy who'd threatened to turn in and betray the one she'd loved and lost. "I don't care if you care, just leave me _alone_!" She'd shouted louder and sharper than she'd meant to, driven by both her grief and her anger.

"I'm not leaving you alone to cry!" he shouted back at her. "Is this what our marriage is going to be like? Filled with tears and lies?"

"I'm not lying! I'm just telling you to leave me alone!"

He now grabbed her arms, that roughly that it hurt her. But he didn't seem to care, and he looked into her eyes with such a fierce look she didn't dare to speak up anymore. "I'm not letting you cry all alone," he now whispered, as he suddenly pressed her against him. "I want to know the reason of your tears, no matter what…"

"Let me go, please… Yukon…"

"Then speak up first."

She sobbed, but detached herself from him quickly. "I can't," she now whispered, "you'll shout at me for sure…"

"I promise I won't," he weakly smiled, "but don't cry out your grief alone. Don't do that to me…"

"It's… it's him," she now finally confessed. She noticed that she was confusing Yukon with that sentence, but she didn't let herself being distracted by it. "I received a letter yesterday, he's… he's dead…"

"Who? Who is dead, Sakari?"

"Rong," she sobbed. She couldn't control her body anymore, and she fell down on her knees as they'd suddenly started shaking. "He… He's gone… I will never see him again, I don't even know how he died, where, or why…"

Yukon was quick enough to get whom she was talking about. "The firebender… his name's Rong?"

"Y… Yes," she brought out, as she pressed her hands against the floor in an attempt to prevent herself from falling flat on her face. It was as if every muscle in her body was protesting, and her arms trembled as they now carried almost her full body weight. She had told herself not to think about it for a while, to banish the message out of her thoughts until she'd be able to bear it a bit. She'd only received the news yesterday, it was too fresh…

"You love him," Yukon now softly remarked, as he knelt in front of her. "You actually love him…"

"Now you know," she gasped. It was as if she'd just run twenty miles without a rest break. Was her pain that strong? "Now you know why you ought to be shouting at me now…"

"I'm only surprised," Yukon now said, as he softly laid his hand on her shoulder. "As I thought he'd just promised you something valuable to draw you to his side… I had no idea…"

Her arms couldn't take her anymore, and she collapsed onto the floor. She didn't mind, as this way, she could hide her tears and shed them in private.

But Yukon wouldn't let her. He grabbed both of her shoulders now and forced her to look up, right into his steel-blue eyes. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he now muttered. "If only you'd spoken up before, I wouldn't have tried to make you mine…"

"Well, it doesn't matter now anymore, does it?" she cried out, "he's dead, he's _dead_! It doesn't matter how much I love him, it wouldn't have mattered if we'd actually been engaged or not! He's _gone_, he'll never return! I'll never see him again, and I… I never even told him I love him…" The guilt suddenly arose from her heart, where it burnt and ached. She _had_ never told him she loved him… She'd tried, but she'd felt so insecure, so self-conscious about it, that she'd chickened out at the last moment. She cursed herself for it now that it was too late.

* * *

He had lost count of how many times he'd already stood there like this, leaning on the railing of the ship and staring over the water. He had no idea where they were heading to, and he'd never bothered to ask in the first place. He had double feelings about everything. He wanted to return to the Northern Water Tribe, but something in him also rejected that idea as he had no idea how to face Sakari after his message. On the other hand – he didn't want to go too far away from her either, in case he might change his mind and 'find the guts', as his friend had expressed it, to look into her eyes and tell her the truth. The truth… It was so ridiculously simple that it was hard to believe he had never actually told her in no uncertain terms. He'd already worked it out in his mind how he'd put it.

'Sakari, that necklace – I didn't just give it to you because I wanted to give our bond a sign. I gave it to you for the reason the men in your Tribe give the women such a necklace. I love you, and I doubt that that feeling will ever pass… Will you become mine?'

Or at least something resembling that. He blushed at the thought he'd actually say it, and it seemed rather impossible for the moment. But at least he'd worked up the guts to be honest to himself. That was something good to start with.

* * *

"Here." Yukon gave her a cup of hot tea as he sat on the chair next to her bed. The koalaotter lay curled up on the foot of the bed.

"Thank you…" She drank a small portion of it before she gave it back to him. "I'm sorry," she now whispered, "it mustn't be easy for you, having a girl staying over that cries every single day…" It had been a month now since she'd received the message and told Yukon she wanted to accept him. She had to admit he was nice to her, very nice even, considering the situation they were in. And the pendant he'd carved for her was simply of dashing beauty. He'd managed to carve their harbour in it, in just a few lines, yet recognizable. There was even something resembling a little koalaotter in the corner, meaning he must have carved it in just one day. After all, he'd asked for her hand the day after she'd given him her 'yes'. The same day she met the koalaotter. Yukon was incredibly sweet to her, yet it was difficult for her to see it. Her thoughts kept wandering off at her times with Rong, causing the tears in her eyes to shed until they dried out. And Yukon had been there all along, taking care of her and leaving her alone if she needed to. She didn't even have to ask for it. She noticed how she started to appreciate him more and more every day now.

At her moments alone, she had the little koalaotter at her side. The creature mostly wandered off to get her own food – she was pretty self-employed already – but returned to Sakari at random moments. She'd temporarily called her Pon-pon for now, but the creature seemed to like her name and actually listened to it.

"That 'girl' from your sentence is my betrothed," Yukon now smiled, in answer to her statement. "That changes the situation a bit, don't you think?"

She smiled at that 'betrothed'. He'd never once called her his 'fiancée' anymore since she'd corrected him, although she wouldn't really mind now. With Rong gone, he might actually be the best choice for her. Second choice, of course, but that didn't necessarily make him second _best_. After all – hadn't Rong left her without fighting for her? At least Yukon had fought to make her his, even though his ways weren't the nicest ones. Yes, she thought she could be pretty happy now, if only she'd be able to get over the pain in her heart.

* * *

"Sighing and daydreaming again?" a voice next to him remarked.

He looked up, and noticed that it was the firebender he could now call his friend had made that remark. Rong weakly smiled. "I feel like scum," he confessed. "I let go of her, but I want her back more than anything… How selfish is that?"

"Selfish enough to notice it yourself," his friend shrugged. "What's holding you back from returning to her, anyway?"

"The war, mostly. And my own stubbornness of course," Rong sighed. "And last but not least, her own people… I mean, how will they respond if one of theirs is dating the enemy? That is, if she actually plans on taking me back if I show up alive now…"

"Hm," his friend pondered. "Y'know, there's a slight chance someone else has already taken over your place. That's a risk that comes with faking your own death."

"I should never have done it," he moaned, "it was too drastic, I should have stopped myself when I still had a chance… Maybe I could never have visited her again anyway, but still…"

"Well, it's not like there's no way," his friend now remarked. "You just need the will to take that way."

"Way? What way?"

* * *

Rong descended to the basement of the ship, lighting his way with a little flame in his hand. If the other firebender had been right, he should be able to find some Water Tribe clothes down here. Apparently, the firebenders had taken them with them as some sick kind of trophy taken from the people that had died. Of course, Rong would never pass as a true member of the Northern Water Tribe, but he could present himself as a migrant from the Earth Kingdom, where brown eyes and a paler skin then on the poles weren't uncommon. His skin colour was actually a bit too light, but then again… How many members of the Water Tribe actually knew how people from all over the enormous Earth Kingdom looked like? For all he knew their looks could vary per area, so he might actually be able to pass as someone from the Earth Kingdom without any bending powers. He could say he bought the Water Tribe clothes from some traveller… Yes, the plan unfolded itself in his head as he walked off the stairs.

And suddenly, he heard muffled sounds coming from the cupboard on his right. Curiously yet carefully, he opened the door – and was shocked by what he saw. A man and a woman were sitting on the floor, both with their hands and feet bound together and a handkerchief covering their mouths. But he wasn't most shocked by the fact they were tied op like this: no, their clothes that indicated their origin surprised him post. "What… Water Tribe people?!"

* * *

"Sakari! What a nice surprise!" Sedna walked to her friend immediately as she'd entered the house and embraced her. She was a newly-wed young woman now, but above all still Sakari's closest friend. "Are you okay, honey?" she whispered near her ear, "after everything that has happened… I'm so happy that you came to the wedding anyway…"

"Of course," Sakari smiled. She could actually smile truly now, after more than two months. With Yukon and Pon-pon, she'd managed to deal with her tormented heart now. She wasn't healed, far from it, but she could at least talk about Rong without bursting into tears immediately. That didn't take away the fact she cried anyway during conversations concerning him, or at night time, as she slept alone in Yukon's guestroom. Pon-pon was often away and Yukon never bothered her at night, leaving her all alone with her gloomy thoughts…

"It's good you came," Balto now nodded, startling her from her thoughts.

Sakari could hardly look at him. He was pained, in constant pain, and not only by his leg that was a lot better than what it used to be, even though still far from good. No, it was his heart that hurt the most, and it was mirrored in his eyes. He was hurt by the sudden death of his friend, whom he'd never said goodbye to in a proper way. In fact, the last time they'd spoken, it had been in an argument. At least Sakari had gotten to give him a proper goodbye, but Balto… far from it.

"How are you feeling now?"

"I could ask you guys the same thing," Sakari whispered, in response to Balto.

Sedna now softly pinched her shoulder. "Don't worry about us, you dummy," she smiled, "we're happily married and we love each other – what else would we need, except for our sweet friend – as in _you_ – around?"

"That other friend." She shouldn't have said it, she knew it as soon as she had. But she couldn't pretend Rong had never existed, she still loved him too much to ever deny him. Thinking about it, he'd more or less abandoned her, but she kept telling herself he'd never really wanted to. He'd had to, of course – staying would eventually lead to giving away his identity and the fact he was a firebender. He had been most sure of his life by going with his own people, and sending letters to her had already been a risk. All she could hope for was that he hadn't died _because_ of those letters, but she'd probably never be sure about that.

* * *

The man and the woman both stared at them with huge eyes, eyes that spoke fear, anger and exhaustion all at the same time. How long had they been here? The whole season since they'd left the Northern Water Tribe?! That was barbaric!

Rong couldn't watch them sitting tied up like that, and he quickly hurried to free them from at least the handkerchiefs. But as soon as he started to free the woman's hands, he got almost kicked into the face by the man. He could only just avoid it, as his reflexes had been trained by his firebending training. Probably the only good that had ever done to him.

"Keep your filthy hands _off_ my wife!"

"I'm setting her free," he hissed, "but fine, I understand you don't trust me. I'll free you first, and then you can free your wife. Is that okay?" He didn't even await his answer as he quickly and easily burnt off the ropes that kept the man's hands and feet together.

The man quickly got up, fried his wife and hastily pressed her against him. "Don't touch us! What's your big plan now, hm? Throwing us overboard after what, having us spending three to four months here for _nothing_?!"

"I didn't know you two were here until just now," Rong calmly answered him. "How did you end up here?"

"We wouldn't let ourselves killed," the man groaned, "so we were taken as hostages as the Fire Nation beat a retreat, only so that our Tribe wouldn't attack. They then threw us in here and gave us food and some water once every day. How come you didn't know about hostages, you as a firebender? You must have been there, they all were!"

"I was… elsewhere during the second half of the fight," Rong mysteriously said. Saying he'd been in a cave with one of their girls seemed kind of inappropriate right now. "Listen – I've got a plan, and I think I can fit the two of you in it to get you back home. But you have to trust me for that."

The man seemed reluctant, but his wife tried to convince him immediately. "Please, think of our daughter… She's already been alone for too long…"

That sentence made a click in Rong's head. "Daughter?" he repeated, "then… might you two be Sedna's parents?!"

"How do you know our girl!" the man shouted, giving himself away right that instant.

Rong weakly smiled now. "She's a friend of someone I'm really close to," he now said.

"How is she?" Sedna's mother asked, as tears had suddenly appeared in her eyes once her daughter's name was mentioned. "Please, I need to know…"

"She was hurt when I left," Rong said truthfully, "but the friend I was just talking about wrote me that she's almost completely recovered, aside from some scars on her chest."

"Thank the spirits for that," the woman sighed, and then, to her husband: "I think we can trust this guy, dear. And even if we can't – he's probably our only chance to ever get out of here alive."

"Very well, then," the man groaned. "What's your plan, boy? Maybe we can help."

"Most certainly," Rong said. "First of all, I need clothes of your Tribe."

* * *

"I need a life boat for three," Rong muttered in his friend's ear as soon as he'd gotten upstairs again. He'd left Sedna's parents behind for obvious reasons.

The firebender looked up in the utmost surprise. "Rong? What… hey, why are you already wearing the clothes? I thought you'd leave in the evening!"

"I am, and I'm doing it – I'm going through with this," Rong smiled, hardly able to contain his excitement, "I'm going back! You were right, it's easy enough to get a life boat and set sail to the Northern Water Tribe now that we're near again! I'm going, I'm really going! I can't miss her for the world!"

"Well, good luck to you," his friend smiled. "Let's then hope we will never meet again, as that would mean your plan has succeeded. Fine – I'll get you a boat for three, without asking why, by midnight."

"Thank you," Rong smiled, "for everything. I'm glad I've found a friend here, I mean it. I owe…"

"Nah, we're even, as this is a matter of love too," his friend grinned. "I wish you all luck in the world – you'll need it."

Rong wasn't really listening anymore – his heart had jumped up and wouldn't stop beating ridiculously fast. He hadn't realized how much he'd truly missed her until he had started to think about returning to her.

It never once occurred to him she might not _want_ him to come back from death.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

She was having one of her break-downs again, very early that morning.

The loss of Rong was always on her mind, but sometimes, it hit her harder than normally. And this was one of those times. She knew it hurt Yukon to see her like this, and thus, she picked up Pon-pon and left the house, in despite of the cold weather – even for the North Pole, it was extremely cold this winter.

Pon-pon shivered as they walked out, and Sakari quickly hid her underneath her coat. She was carrying the first stone pendant she'd ever received in the palm of her hand, glaring at is with a dreamy look in her eyes. Occasionally, a tear dropped on it, but she hardly realized as she continued to walk with firm steps. She had a goal, and she'd reach it no matter what.

Eventually, she stopped as she'd reached the cave she'd been looking for. The Turtle Seals had moved out, as the cave was too small to bear all of them. Because it was so small, it was also pretty cold as it didn't go very deep. But Sakari didn't care and settled herself near the entrance, where she opened the bag she'd carried with her. It had a warm blanket in it and a bottle of chocolate milk, which was close to becoming a bottle of just chocolate with this cold. She now wrapped the blanket around herself, pour herself a cup of chocolate milk and took Pon-pon out of her coat, where she tried to get back into immediately. Sakari eventually gave up on stopping her.

She drank some of the chocolate milk now, shivered a bit because it was so cold, and finally continued glaring at the stone again. "I love you so much," she whispered to it, "I want the times we spent in here to come back, I want us to pick up where we left… But I… Oh, dear spirits, I… Yukon is so sweet to me, I don't know what to do… I feel like I'm cheating on you while you're not even around anymore… Yukon's getting impatient, he wants us to get married soon before I change my mind again, I know he must think that I will deep inside his heart… What should I do, Rong? What should I do… I wish you were here…"

She now closed her eyes and wrapped the blanket even closer around her, pretending it was Rong who was holding her tightly. She'd never accepted the same thing from Yukon, even though he wanted to. She knew he wanted more than just talking, that he wanted to hold her and kiss her. She just pushed him away whenever he tried, but she couldn't pull that off forever. There'd be one day when Yukon'd lose his patience with her, one day when she was expected to be over the loss of Rong. And that day… That day she'd have to betray her heart in order to maintain the small amount of happiness she still had, by being close to her friends and family.

* * *

Rowing the life boat was a tough job, as those weren't exactly meant to travel the distance they were travelling now. Rong had quickly become pretty tired, but he decided not to show it and keep rowing. He'd given up on so many things already; he couldn't give this one up too.

At that moment, Sedna's father suddenly grabbed his paddle. "What are you doing, boy? If we continue at this speed, I wonder if we'll actually arrive before spring!"

"But…"

"Come here." And he simply shoved Rong aside, taking the paddles over from him. He now grinned. "Leave it up to an old waterbender to row the boat!" And indeed, the boat went much quicker as the man used his waterbending skills to speed things up a little.

Rong now leaned back, although he was a bit tensed. They'd arrive earlier than he'd thought now, meaning he'd be confronted with Sakari much earlier. He might actually be there around the time people were just starting to wake up. Of course, he'd first guide Sedna's parents to Balto's house, where Sedna was probably staying now, but then… He wasn't sure if he could handle a confrontation with Sakari already.

Of course, he'd returned because he loved her and wanted to stay with her. But now, he was having second thoughts about it. She'd probably be happy that he was alive after all, but what if he told her the truth about that letter? And what if… what if indeed, his biggest fear had become reality and she'd accepted another man's proposal?! After all, he'd never told her he meant the two of them to be engaged… How could he have been so idiotic to write that stupid letter in the first place!

"Are you okay, boy?" Sedna's mother friendly asked.

He looked up in a daze, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright," he lied.

* * *

They arrived earlier than he'd expected – there were no signs anyone from the Water Tribe was awake, meaning it was still early in the morning. In silence, the three people dressed in Water Tribe clothing stepped out of the boat.

"You can come to our house to wait a bit," Sedna's mother now proposed, "I think you have some business to take care of on your own here, don't you?"

"You could put it that way," Rong smiled.

Sedna's father wasn't as friendly as his wife. "As long as you don't intend to burn down the place," he groaned, still on his guard. He wasn't that comfortable with a firebender around, and no-one could blame him for it. But as the one rescuing them, Rong'd expected a bit more trust from him by now.

"Not so mean to him," Sedna's mother now corrected her husband. "We're home again, and we should thank him as if we thanked the spirits for it! I'm sure that his business here has nothing to do with the war, now has it?"

"Firebenders _always_ have to do with the war."

"Now not so narrow-minded!" His wife was losing her patience with him now as they kept on walking. "You're acting nice to him starting from now, or I'll lock you out of our house!"

"Hmf." He was silent all the way down to their house.

* * *

"Sedna's not in her bed!" Sedna's mother shouted, returning into the living room in shock. "Where could she possibly be at this time of the day?"

"My guess is that she'd with Balto right now," Rong carefully remarked. He hadn't counted on a fierce response from her father.

"She's WHAT?! I'll teach that… that…"

"My apologies, sir," Rong carefully interrupted him, "but my guess is that they're probably married by now. I have been told they planned their wedding for mid-winter, so…"

"My little girl! Married! Oh, she's grown up so fast… I wish I could have been there," Sedna's mother now suddenly swooned, while her husband seemed likely to explode.

"She did WHAT?!"

The different responses to the same message were quite funny to watch, but Rong didn't feel so comfortable around Sedna's father all of a sudden. Luckily for him, the village seemed to wake up now slowly, and he had a great excuse to leave. "Well, I think it's time for me to get up," he quickly said, "I think the person I'm looking for is already awake too, so…"

"You sure you don't want a nice cup of tea, boy?" Sedna's mother said, as she tried to calm down her husband (whose face had gone from red to almost purple by now). "We owe you so much!"

"It's okay, really," he smiled, as he'd opened the door already. "I'm sure to drop by another time for some tea, but I truly have to go now."

Yes, he truly had – but he kept questioning if he was ready for it. And thus, he didn't go directly to Sakari's house. He wanted to go to another place first to work up the courage he needed to face her.

* * *

She'd fallen asleep, although she didn't notice it until Pon-pon started to move around wildly in her coat. She giggled a bit, then opened her eyes. "Calm down," she muttered, "it's nothing…" But as she looked up, she noticed that wasn't entirely true.

The entrance was now blocked by someone, and because he blocked the light as well, she couldn't really identify him. Was it Yukon, Balto maybe? No, Balto was taller than that…

And suddenly, the mysterious guy spoke. "Mi… Sakari?"

Her eyes were widely opened all of a sudden. No… this couldn't be… It couldn't be _his_ voice… "N-no," she whispered, as she tried to sneak further into the cave. Pon-pon became even more restless now and sought her peace with Sakari. "No, this can't be…"

The guy approached her now, and she hid her face in her hands as she realized what must be going on. "No, no! Don't haunt me, I've never done anything wrong to you!"

"Haunt you? What are you talking about?" His voice sounded strangely lively for a spirit.

"I know you're dead," she whispered now, "y… you must acknowledge it too, then you can find peace… Your death must have been too sudden, t-that's why you're here… But please, don't haunt me… You've haunted me enough in my dreams…" This was too much for her to bear, and thus, it didn't take long before tears were rolling over her cheeks once more.

"Sakari, please," he now whispered. He came nearer, and she'd reached the end of the cave already. She shivered with fear as he bent over to her. "Sakari, I'm here… I've come back for you, and not from death, you must believe it…"

"Y-you died too sudden," she tried to convince him, "that's why… T-that's why you don't know you're dead, I've heard so many stories about it… Those spirits need to find peace with themselves…"

"Sakari, I'm not dead," his voice now said, creepily close to her ear, "that letter was a mistake, I'm alive… in fact, I haven't fought once ever since I got back onto the ship, so I couldn't have died in a fight to begin with! You have to believe me, girl, please…"

"You don't have to cheer me up," she whispered, hiding her face in her hands again. "I… I've had enough time to accept your death…" And then, she couldn't take it anymore. It was too much for her to see his face again, knowing he wasn't for real. It felt like a horrible dream – or rather, a great one… until she'd wake up. "It'd be better if you'd leave me alone… This is far worse than knowing you're gone…" She'd started to sob now, and pressed Pon-pon that tightly against her that the animal protested with soft squealing.

But unlike Sakari, Pon-pon wasn't afraid of this spirit, and as soon as she was free to move, she jumped out of Sakari's arms and walked to him. And the next moment, she was curling herself up on his feet, making him smile as he knelt in front of the creature, probably to get rid of the awkward situation with Sakari.

"Hello, little one… You're a koalaotter, aren't you? I've never seen you or your family as of yet, but you're quite a cute one!"

As Sakari saw Pon-pon playfully grabbing his hands and nibbling on his fingers, as she'd only done with the living, she couldn't hold herself back anymore. Alive or not, he was truly here… "Rong," she finally acknowledged him, "Rong…" And then, she threw her arms around him, even though she had to shove Pon-pon aside in order to get to him. She sobbed again as she felt his arms embracing her, knowing this was too good to be true. But that didn't hold her back from enjoying the moment. In her heart, she wanted nothing more than to believe the letter was indeed false, and that he'd actually come back for her.

And then, she suddenly noticed it _was_ true. "You're wearing clothes from my Tribe," she whispered, "you can't have put them on after your death, and there's no way you were wearing them at the moment you died…"

"Well, finally," he smiled, "finally, you believe me…"

She nodded, rubbed her tears away and felt her heart being filled with happiness as she tasted his lips on hers.

* * *

He wasn't doing what he was supposed to do, he knew it. He should tell her right away that it was him who wanted the letter to be sent to her, that he'd given up on her. But he just couldn't, not when she was lying so desperately in his arms. Not now she was so happy with his return – happy enough to start crying again, although this time, she was beaming through them. He couldn't help himself as he looked into her yearning eyes, and he kissed her deeply. He held on to her that tightly that she eventually squeaked, awkwardly familiar to the way the koalaotter had squeaked when Sakari'd squeezed it.

"Rong, you're hurting me…"

"I'm sorry," he hastily muttered. He loosened his grip, but kept kissing her over and over again. "I missed you… I missed you so much…"

"Not as much as I missed you," she whispered, kissing him back.

He now kissed her ear, her neck, as she held on to him almost as tightly as he did to her. The moment seemed to last forever… Until Sakari suddenly let go of him.

"Look out, we're almost stepping on Pon-pon!"

He was just kissing her neck as she said that, and he almost tripped when she let go of him that sudden. He couldn't help grinning. "Pon-pon? You called a koalaotter Pon-pon?"

"It's just temporary," Sakari shrugged, though a blush rushed to her cheeks as she bent and picked up the creature. "It's because of her cheeks, you see? They're so soft and fluffy, they're just… well… Pon-pon…"

"Right… okay. Pon-pon."

"Yes – Pon-pon."

He couldn't help it – in despite of the situation, in despite of what he actually had to say, he chuckled out loud, and he was relieved to notice Sakari did the same simultaneously.

"Well, it's kind of ridiculous when you think about it, isn't it?"

"I wasn't going to say _that_, but…" He accidentally shared a look with her, which was enough for the both of them to burst out laughter.

* * *

"Well, that was… nice," Sakari chuckled, sweeping away some tears. "Laughing out loud for a change…"

"I imagine you haven't laughed a lot lately," he carefully brought up the subject of his assumed death.

She seemed to ponder those words over for a while, then shrugged. "Well, it's not like I haven't laughed _at all_," she now said, "it's just… well, we actually had fun together, but it's… different."

"We?" he repeated, "you mean you and Sedna?"

To his surprise, a blush had appeared on her face. "No, not exactly," she now said.

And now, he noticed something. Something he should have noticed before, if only he hadn't hurried to take her in his arms so quickly. Something tiny, but very significant. "Sakari… that pendant…"

"Oh, I have yours here," she quickly said, showing the thing she'd held in her hands all along. But the fierce blush on her cheeks told him that he'd guessed correctly about the first pendant.

"The pendant you're wearing now isn't mine," he now said. He felt how anger burnt in his heart, although he tried to remain calm and rational.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I… well, I thought you were dead… I didn't know what to do, and he threatened to tell the Chief about us…"

"So you just ran off with some guy mere months after you learned I'd died?!" He couldn't help it, he was furious now. He knew he'd done the wrong thing by sending that letter, but did he really deserve it to be punished _this_ hard?

"Not 'just'!" she now cried, "he forced me! He gave me a deadline starting even before you were 'dead', he claimed he'd tell the Chief and everyone else about you and me! I'd have been banished away from the place that I love, and I postponed to make that decision for as long as I could… But then I learnt of your death, Rong! How can you blame me that I chose to accept his proposal so that I could at least stay with the other people that I love?! I'd have risked being banished only to be with you! But you weren't there anymore, I'd lost everything that was worth giving up my life here for!"

Her explanation was absolutely plausible, and under normal conditions, he'd have understood her. But now, he was driven by anger because of that new pendant around her neck. And thus, he had to control himself in order not to attack her. "You betrayed me!"

"You let me think you were dead for _months_!" she shouted back at him. "That letter was sent what, three months ago?! Don't tell me you didn't know until just now!"

"Oh, let me tell you something!" he now called. "I knew from the very beginning that letter was sent, and you know why?! Because I wrote it myself, that's why!" He should have shut his mouth before he'd lost control of what came out, but it was too late now. It wasn't meant to be called out like this; he should have waited until he'd known exactly what to say and how to say it. But there was no time to think it over anymore.

Sakari stood there in front of him, gasping for breath after her shouting, and with huge eyes of shock. He could only guess what was going on through her mind.

* * *

_I wrote it myself…_

No, she couldn't have heard it as she thought she'd heard it. This wasn't true, he couldn't have… he wouldn't have… But she knew he was honest enough not to make something like that up. It _was_ true, he could and he would have… And he _had_, she just knew it as she tried to look into his eyes. She couldn't catch his look, as he was too embarrassed to look up.

"I want you to understand why I did it," he quietly said now. "Because it wasn't just a cheap trick to get rid of you, you _have_ to believe that…"

"I don't _have_ to believe anything," she now said, trembling with anger all of a sudden. She was infuriated, but she only noticed that now. "You have no right to command me! You've given up that right as you wrote that letter!"

"Then please hear me out!" he now called, "hear me as I tell you I wanted to give you a normal life without waiting for me! I wanted a calm life for you, not a life with people asking you about me!"

"If you wanted that, then why did you come back?!" She couldn't see the logic of it all, not at any rate.

"Because I love you," he muttered, "I love you too much to give you up just like that, and I know I shouldn't have written that letter… I know I should have torn it apart before I sent it, I know I shouldn't have sent it at all, but what's done is done…"

"Yes, it is," Sakari now yelled, "so you must face the consequences of it! It was you who did this, so don't blame _me_ for doing exactly as you hoped!"

"Well, I'd _hoped _I'd mean more to you than just some flirt!" he shouted, "as you got engaged in a wink to someone else! Apparently, I didn't mean that much to you at all!"

"I already explained it wasn't voluntary!" she screamed, "but fine, if you can't accept that…" She lifted Pon-pon again and walked away with her, but was quickly followed by Rong. "Leave me alone!"

"I can't, and I won't! I just told you I love you too much to give you up!"

"You've already done so, git!" She now turned around and did the thing she'd wanted to do as soon as he'd told her about the letter – she hit him in the face as hard as she could. "You're lucky this time!"

He was petrified for a moment, giving her the time to run away. She knew where to go, and she could only hope she'd reach that place before Rong'd caught up with her.

* * *

"_Sakari_! Oh, thank the spirits," Yukon welcomed her in, "I thought something had happened to you as I didn't find you in your bed this morning! What have you done, gone for a morning stroll?"

"Something like that, yes," she weakly smiled, as she hurried to get in and close the door behind her. She stole a look outside, and noticed that fortunately, Rong didn't seem to have followed her here.

"I'm glad you decided to come back," Yukon smiled. "Because honestly… And I know you probably don't want to hear this, but… I don't think I can miss you anymore. You had me worried, you know that? And not only me, because we have a visitor who worried about you too."

"O-oh?" Sakari said, a bit scared now. Had Rong shown up after all?

But no, it wasn't Rong who sat in the living room. As she entered it, Sedna suddenly jumped of the couch and hugged her. "Oh, Sakari! I'm so glad, I can't believe it," she beamed, "mum and dad are alive, they've come back! And you won't believe who freed them! He never told them their name, but the description matches him perfectly! I don't want to make you happy only to disappoint you afterwards, but… oh, girl, I really think Rong's still alive!" she now grinned with enthusiasm. "I mean, think about it – how many firebenders from around our age would dress in our clothes and save our people from his own ship?"

Sakari didn't respond to that – she couldn't. She couldn't say she knew, that she'd run into him already. That she'd been close to running away with him until he'd told her it was him who'd written the letter… It had felt as if she was slapped in her face, and it still felt like that now. She suddenly had a hard time to stay on her feet.

"Sakari? Are you alright?"

She vaguely heard Yukon's worried voice, and felt how he softly caressed her face. "No… Don't…"

"Don't, Yukon," Sedna firmly repeated, as she grabbed her friend away from his grip. "Sakari, look at me – something happened, didn't it? What, have you run into him or something?"

"Y-yes," she confessed, knowing that Sedna'd poke through any lies immediately anyway. "But I wish I hadn't…"

"What happened exactly? And be honest, no-one will get angry with you here."

"That letter… he wrote it himself," she whispered, "he pretended to be dead to give me a 'normal life'…"

Sedna didn't really know what to do with herself after that sentence, that was obvious. "Oh, dear… I…" She grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it before she continued. "But… he came back, right? For you?"

"He said he loved me too much to let me go," she muttered. For some reason, she wasn't that angry anymore; just confused. Confused by all that Rong'd told her, and actually, endeared by the fact he'd returned because of his love for her. She knew enough of him to know he was stubborn, and how hard he found it to admit he'd made a mistake.

And Sedna now said exactly the same, as if they had communicated without words. "That means a lot, coming from him," she smiled, "trust me, dear. He wouldn't have come all the way here if all he'd wanted to do was to drop off my parents; he could have just given them a life boat if he'd wanted to. No, he came back with them, dressed properly even, to be with _you_. And you…" She now opened Sakari's hand that bore the pendant, and smiled once more. "You love him too, otherwise you wouldn't carry this with you everywhere you go. Sure, he made a big mistake by writing that letter, but he admitted it. So maybe you can start to forgive him? Not immediately, but in small steps. I think it's worth it." She now stepped back a bit and winked. "And if he dares to show up now, I'll slap him in the face to punish him! That must do it!"

"Oh, _I_ already did," Sakari weakly smiled.

And at that moment, Yukon approached them with loud footsteps. "I'll do more than just slapping him," he now shouted, that loudly and that close to her ear that Sakari thought she was going to be deaf now, "I'll _kill_ him!"

"What?!" Sakari called out in the utmost surprise. "I thought you'd accepted that I love him!"

"Loving a dead guy, alright," Yukon groaned, "but it appears he's not that dead after all, hm? Well, I'll _make_ him!"

"I'd love to see you try."

Everyone looked up now: Rong had suddenly appeared in the opening of the door, that quietly that no-one had heard him, and he was staring at Yukon intensely.

"I might not have treated her the right way," he admitted in a cool voice, "but from what I've heard of you, you're much more of a scumbag than I am. I will not have you steal the love of my life away just like that, not even if you truly deserved her! As long as there's still a slight chance for me to have a happy life with her, I _will_ fight for Sakari!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

He felt powerful now that he was facing the one who thought he could take Sakari away from him like that. He'd finally said what he should have said much earlier: he'd fight for her. And he really would, without chickening out, running away or sending letters claiming he was dead.

"Fight, hm? Then we'll take it outside," his opponent grinned, "so that everybody can see you're a firebender!"

At that moment, the most unexpected thing happened – Sakari jumped in front of him and raised her fist. "He is not! I never said that, you just _assumed_ it was like that! And I played along as you called him 'firebender'!"

"Like I'll believe _that_," the guy now grinned, "you're obviously trying to protect him, Sakari, and you really shouldn't. Don't get too attached to the fact he's back, because he won't be for long."

"You git!" Sakari now shouted, "Yukon, you told me you didn't mind! Haven't you heard yourself when you once said that I should return to him if he turned out to be alive after all?!"

"I never said something like that!"

"Let's not argue, everyone," Sedna tried to appease them, "and we really shouldn't fight…"

"He asked for it!" the guy named Yukon now shouted, and before Rong realized something was going on, he'd summoned water from a bowl on the table and splashed it on him. It didn't hurt one bit, though. "That was just a warning!" Yukon gasped.

Rong had to hold himself back not to say anything sarcastic, because he knew it wouldn't be appreciated. "Maybe we should just let Sakari choose herself," he now said, as calmly as he possibly could. He knew it wasn't quite fair to shove it all on Sakari's plate, but he wanted to avoid fighting as Yukon'd just suggested – with bending. He'd already hurt Sedna, and he wasn't really planning on hurting someone else like that, by accident or not.

"Oh, now that's easy! As if you can let her decide in this state!" Yukon remarked, "she's all confused by your sudden rise from death, and…"

"I can decide perfectly well if I'm mentally stable or not, thank you very much," Sakari groaned, "but making a decision…" She now looked at Rong directly with her piercing eyes. "You are so dear to me," she whispered, with a tender tone in her voice. "You were everything to me, and you broke my heart when you 'died'… I… I don't think I can handle it if I let you heal it and then break it again, but on the other hand… Sedna already said it means a lot you came back, knowing your character. I… I would really, _really_ like to believe it can work out this time. But, Yukon…" And she now directed herself to the one she was currently engaged to, giving him a look almost as tender as she'd just given Rong. It made him jealous.

"I've built a life with you," she continued, "I was almost prepared to marry you… Almost." She walked to him and grabbed his hands now with hers, which were shaking for obvious reasons. She was nervous. "I… I was really happy," she now confessed, "because you cheered me up, telling me it'd be alright… I… Maybe it would have worked out between us if we'd have been together earlier. I think I could have loved you, but… well… You understand, right?"

Yukon quickly tore his hand away from her and averted his face from her with a furious look. "You are mental, woman!" he now shouted, "choosing a firebender above me, a well-respected member of the Northern Water Tribe! If you want to throw your life away, fine – but you'll first have to get through me to do so!"

"Yukon, please, I…"

And that moment, he hit her in the face with all fury inside him. "Shut up!"

Rong lost himself out of sight for a moment, and found himself back with his hands tightly around Yukon's wrists. "Don't you _dare_ hitting her!" He felt he got angry, and he knew he had to control it… but it was too late already. Little sparks appeared in his hands, quickly burning Yukon's wrists.

"AAH! LET GO OF ME, YOU MORON!"

"I'm sorry!" he quickly apologized, letting him go as soon as he could. But he knew that he could never pass his story that he came from the Earth Kingdom anymore now, if that story had ever stood a chance at all to begin with.

Yukon seemed to realize it too, and grinned. "That was stupid," he now said, "really stupid. I'll show this to the Chief, making it proof you're a firebender before you can even _claim_ something else. One doesn't get such wounds unless a firebender makes them, and I'm sure he'll see that, too!"

"But it hurts, right?" Sakari suddenly said, stepping forward and opening a familiar bottle. "Let me Heal you so that the pain will go away…" She was specialized on burn marks already; she showed that as she skilfully got rid of the small marks Rong's anger had left on his wrists. "There."

"My evidence! You stupid…"

Rong couldn't hear it anymore: he created fire in his hand, and threatened Yukon with it by holding it close to his face. "Don't make me do this, Yukon," he groaned. He'd never plan on actually burning his face, but Yukon didn't know that. He'd crossed the thin line and he'd have to pay for it, Rong'd decided on that quick enough.

"Ha, you finally decided to fight?" Yukon grinned, although he seemed slightly intimidated by the fire warming his face now.

"When I said I wanted to fight for her, I didn't necessarily mean using any bending powers," Rong told him, "I meant I wasn't going to give her up anymore. I won't let her walk away on me, and I won't do the same to her anymore. That's what I meant."

"Well, if you intend on making her yours, you'll have to fight _me_," Yukon now said, taking a step back. "Because I'm not planning on letting her go, either."

* * *

So there he was, standing opposite of the one that aimed to take the love of his life away from him. He never intended to end up in a 'lovers' battle', but it seemed there was no other way to settle this matter. He didn't know how much Yukon actually cared for Sakari, but he doubted it would be the way _he_ cared. He knew how irrational it was to think like that, as he hadn't spent more time with Sakari than Yukon had. But he also felt he was special. After all, Sakari had loved him back, even though she'd never said the words, and he was quite sure she still loved him.

In the mean while, quite some people had gathered around Yukon and him. If this was going to turn into a bending battle, which was almost certain, he'd have a huge disadvantage. He wanted to win, of course – but in order to win in bending, he'd have to show his identity as a firebender. And if he did, people were certainly not going to accept him in their Tribe, meaning that he'd have to leave with Sakari. Could he do that to her, could he ask her to give up the one place she could call 'home'? But if he didn't firebend, he was sure to lose…

The battle seemed to have started as Yukon summoned water from a nearby puddle… But no, he seemed to be wrong. The water splashed back into the puddle before Rong could even think of a way to avoid it.

But Yukon seemed just as surprised as he was. "What the…"

"You will _not_ attack Rong," Sakari now said, lowering her hand. "Or _I_ will replace him instead."

* * *

She knew she was going to be asked what on earth had gotten into her, but for once, she didn't care. She couldn't just watch how Yukon provoked Rong to use his firebending skills and give up his one chance to live a normal life here. She had acted in an impulse as she'd taken control over Yukon's attack, but she was now sure that if there was to be a fight, it would be her against Yukon. Either that or she'd drag Rong away before it'd escalate.

Yukon now gave her a serious look. "I'm not going to fight you, Sakari."

"Then there won't be a fight at all."

"But…"

"Rong's done enough," she now called, "he's rescued Sedna's parents, you heard her herself saying so! He left his own nation to be with me, he's given up everything for that!" She was careful not to mention 'fire' in anything she said, but she was pretty sure all she'd said was true. And if it wasn't – well, then he wasn't worth her. If he hadn't come here to be with her, she didn't know why else he had.

"And you expect me to just accept that?!" Yukon shouted back at her, "you expect me to wave you goodbye as you walk off with someone else, just because he gave you a necklace earlier than I did?"

Some bystanders now roared and meddled in with it – 'That's right, boy, get your girl back!' 'No, no, she has to be with that foreigner! He came to get her and he was there first!' – as Yukon approached Sakari now.

"Yukon…"

"Don't get the wrong ideas of me, Sakari," he muttered, "I didn't want you to be my girl because I wanted to show off with you, I know you think so. It's true; in the very beginning, I was like that, but… you changed me."

"And that's good," she now smiled, "but you'll have to let me go now, Yukon. I've never really been yours to begin with."

"I'm not letting you go!" he now shouted, "I won't, I can't! What will become of me when you're not around anymore?!" He seemed like a little child now, confusing Sakari with that.

"What are you talking about? I'll still be here in the Tribe, as long as people will allow me of course…"

"I didn't mean that," he now whispered, "I can't sneak into your room when you're asleep anymore, or steal a secret kiss from your lips…"

"You did WHAT?!"

"I never did that! I just wanted to express that I'll never have a chance to now!" he said in a desperate voice, and then, close to her ear: "But… I wanted to, you know…"

"Get off!" she screamed, slapping his hand away that was caressing her face. "Rong, you can do whatever you want with him, I honestly don't care! Yukon, I thought you had some dignity!"

"Here's your dignity!" He suddenly pressed his lips on hers, for several seconds only, and then simply turned around and walked away on her.

"Who do you think you are!" she screamed, beyond herself of anger.

"I'm Yukon of the Northern Water Tribe," he shouted back at her, "and I've just given up a very precious girl in my life!"

It took her a while before she realized what that meant. Had he actually given her up without a fight at all? Or had he just seen that no matter how hard he'd fight, he'd lose anyway? She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up immediately, but it was Rong. _Thank the spirits_, she unconsciously thought.

"Are you alright? What has he just done?" he asked her, "what I think he's done, or…"

"I guess so," she weakly smiled, "I think he just gave up on me." For some reason, she felt hurt, almost as hurt as when she found out Rong'd written the letter. She'd grown fond of Yukon over the past few months, even though not in the same way as he'd grown fond of _her_. She'd started to see him as family.

"Look at me." Rong's voice almost demanded her to look up at him, in his inquiring eyes. "Does that automatically mean I don't have to fight for you anymore?"

"It doesn't mean I've forgiven you and jump back into your arms right this instant," she weakly smiled. "I'm sorry, but no matter how much you mean to me… I can't just forget all about that letter, probably _because_ you mean so much to me. I need some time, you understand that?" She saw his disappointed face now, as if she'd just rejected him. Carefully but quickly, she laid her hands against his face. "Which doesn't mean I don't want to see you or speak to you until I have forgiven you," she assured him.

He smiled now, hesitantly, as if he was afraid to believe things looked well from now on. If so, he felt the same as she did – being watched, nervous… but above all, a rising feeling of happiness now they stood there next to one another.

* * *

He couldn't believe how easy he'd gotten away with it. No fight, no revealing identities, no struggle to fit in because he was a firebender… It seemed too good to be true. And it probably was, because one day or another, truth would come out. Firebending was part of him, no matter how much he hated it. He couldn't hide it for the rest of his life. "Sakari, I…"

"Wait a minute! Let me through, let me through!"

They both looked up: the next moment, Balto's head had appeared above the Water Tribe people that still surrounded them, and he pushed his way through to get to them. Eventually, he was standing opposite of them, and he gave Rong a fierce look. "YOU! You let all of us believe you were dead!"

Rong looked up in fear, as he knew Balto could be very powerful if he was angry… But before he knew it, his friend suddenly embraced him. "Ehm… Balto?"

"Oh… yeah…" He now let go of him and looked at him with a happy shine in his eyes. "I'm glad you're alive, bud. I really am."

"What took you so long to get here, anyway?" That was Sedna, who'd been silent all along. Rong actually hadn't noticed her up until now, while she took place next to Balto and gently rubbed his stressed face.

"Ehm, your parents," Balto confessed to her, "I had to promise your father around a million times I'd take good care of his daughter and such."

She chuckled and kissed his cheek. "And what did you tell him?"

"Would I be standing here alive if I hadn't promised him?"

"Good point." She giggled as she remarked: "you missed everything! The big reuniting, Yukon's… oh, well, I'm sure you'll hear the details any time soon." She winked at Sakari now and simply dragged Balto away from the scene to give them some privacy. It appeared that the bystanders had seen enough now, too, as they slowly started to walk back to their houses.

Rong and Sakari were almost in private now, and this would be a good timing to start about his identity 'crisis'… but first, something else needed to be fixed in his eyes. "So, aren't you going to put that pendant back where it belongs?" he smiled, as he looked at Sakari.

She was playing with the water and fire stone she still held in her hand, but shook her head. "No."

"Sorry?!"

"You gave it to me, so _you_ have to put it back," she broadly smiled, "I'm not going to propose to myself, if that's what you were thinking!"

"I thought you'd know by now that I'd meant to propose to you the minute I gave it to you," he whispered, as he took place behind her to put the pendant back on its place. He first took off the newer pendant and pressed it into her hand. "What will you do with this one?"

"Give it back," she muttered, laying her hand on his. "I'm not the girl he was supposed to give it to, and I think he realizes it now, too."

"Good girl," he smiled. He now attached his own pendant on the choker and pressed a gentle kiss in her neck before he let go of her. "There you go."

"Thank you." She now turned around, grabbed his arms and forced him to look into her eyes. "Look at me," she whispered, "I want to look into your eyes as I tell you this…"

"G-go ahead." He noticed he was nervous for what was to come – after all, he wasn't that sure if she…

"I love you," she now smiled, "I love you! There, I finally told you…"

He couldn't believe his ears. It was true – she had never told him before. She had tried to, twice even, but the first time, she hadn't mentioned the word 'love'. She'd simply chickened out as she tried to tell him a second time… But third time lucky, apparently.

"Ehm… Eh… you're not responding," he now heard her whisper.

That was the last straw to him: he promptly lifted her off her feet and embraced her as tightly as he could.

"R-Rong?"

"You've made me so happy with those three words that I couldn't believe my ears at first," he whispered, as he kissed her lips with a smile. "What took you so long?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, "I really don't…"

It took quite some time before he finally put her back on the ground again.

* * *

She couldn't care about any letters right now, standing there in his arms, even though she couldn't set herself to forgive him about that specific one. She'd longed to feel Rong's arms around her for so long that now she finally did feel them, she didn't want to think about anything else.

But he made her to, unfortunately. "Sakari… I know you probably don't want to think about this, but… well…" He continued whispering that softly that she could barely hear him. "I can't hide who I am forever," he explained himself, "you know I don't like the fact I'm a firebender, but it's who I am – it comes with the package. Just like my stubbornness and the fact I find it hard to blame myself for anything," he weakly smiled, "and just like my loyalty to the people I truly care about. I recall you asking me about who Rong of the Fire Nation really is… well, this is pretty much the whole 'me'."

"I'm sure there's more 'you' than just those four things," she chuckled, as she quickly embraced him. "But I'll find the rest out by myself."

"But…"

"Ssh." She leant against him and closed her eyes, happy as she was to sense him so near her and knowing that he wasn't going anywhere for now. "I have thought about you and your… well, 'gift'," she smiled, even though it was a lie. In fact, she had never thought about it before, at least not under these circumstances. "And I've decided to accept it." That _was_ true, even though she'd only decided it mere seconds ago. "Sure, people here are bound to find out someday, but so what? By that time, they might have already accepted you in the Tribe as a full member and they won't care about that detail. And if they do… oh, well, I'm sure there'll be another place where you and I can live together at peace, don't you think?"

"You really plan on leaving your home if my situation asks that from you?" he asked in a surprised voice.

She merely smiled. "I just told you I love you," she now said, "of course I will leave with you! And besides, the people I care about already know about your 'situation', meaning that even if I leave, they will keep in touch with me. They are the ones that are really important to me, not the Tribe itself. These people won't judge me because I love you, as they know you and know how you and I started off. They will know I had no choice than to stick with you for the rest of my life." She didn't even have to convince herself with those words – they were what she believed in her heart.

"Sakari, does this mean…"

"Yes," she shone. She didn't really know what he meant, but he could actually only mean one thing. "I accept your betrothal necklace, Rong. Now let's just hope my father will do the same again."

"Oh, _Sakari_…" He pushed her against her with all his might, as if he was afraid she'd vanish into thin air if he didn't. But too bad for him – she had to do something that required her presence elsewhere.

"Rong, there's something… I must do it alone, so can you let go of me for just a second?"

"Hm. Just a second, then," he reluctantly muttered. It still took several minutes before he let go of her.

* * *

"Yukon! Yukon, _wait_!" She'd finally caught up with him – he was pretty fast, and besides, it had been a while already since he'd walked off.

But he didn't look up as he opened the door of his house, and she was only just in time to stop him from slamming the door in her face. "Oh, hi," Yukon muttered, trying not to look in her eyes. "I thought you were cuddling with your firebender?"

"True, but I had to return something to you," she gently smiled. She grabbed his hand now and pressed the stone pendant he once gave her in it. "You gave it to the wrong girl, one who doesn't deserve you," she whispered. "But I wore it without any reluctance, and I wanted you to know that. I know today has been very confusing and everything went pretty fast, especially for you. But… I know that I've made the right decisions today, even though it might not be easy to pick up my life from here. I just feel bad for pushing you away like this – you don't deserve that, Yukon."

But he pushed her hand away from his and turned his back to her. "I don't care."

"You do," she said, "as I know you were speaking the truth when you told me you cared for me. And I really hope you will one day meet a sweet, pretty Water Tribe girl who will give you the love you deserve." She now bent to pick up Pon-pon, who'd followed her all the way here, and cuddled her for a moment. Then, she handed her over to Yukon, who accepted her with a strange look in his eyes. "Pon-pon was a great support for me whenever I was alone," Sakari explained this action, "and since she's used to coming to your place, I think she will be supportive for you, too. And if that doesn't work, you can always come to me when you need a friend," she added to that with a wink, but it'd have been better if she hadn't.

"I'm sorry, Sakari," Yukon muttered, "but I don't think I can consider you as a friend for now. It's not like I'll avoid you for the rest of my life, but… I think it's better if I do for now. I hope you can understand that."

"I understand," she nodded, "goodbye, Yukon. And… thanks for everything."

* * *

"Done what you had to do?" Rong smiled, as Sakari had returned to him and clung to him. She couldn't help herself – even though she should hate him for what he'd done to her with that letter, she loved being with him too much to give him angry looks about it.

"Yes… Maybe I should introduce you to my mother now," she remarked, "dad already knows you, but my mother… well, we'll see what she says of you." Truth being told, as long as she'd 'accidentally' leave out the part that Rong was a firebender, her mother would probably accept him right away. He was almost exactly like how she'd always pretended her future son-in-law to be, after all.

"What have you done with Pon-pon, by the way?" Rong now randomly remarked after a short silence. "I thought she was around."

"Oh, she'll come by some time," Sakari smiled, "she's not really a pet, y'know. She just likes it to stick with me."

"Like I do," he grinned, as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Exactly," she giggled while laying her head against him. Yes – she could truly become happy now.

* * *

She hadn't been far from the truth as she'd told Yukon it'd be hard to pick up her life from that point. It was: Rong was never really seen as a true Water Tribe member by the other people, though Sedna, Balto, Sedna's parents and Sakari's own parents never mentioned that. But his appearance simply set him apart from the others, and therefore made him more or less an outsider. Sakari often asked him if he cared about that, but he denied it. 'As long as you don't shut me out, I'll never feel an outsider,' he would tell her whenever she asked about it. And he mostly added to that: 'as long as they don't shut _you_ out, I'm happy.' And luckily, they didn't.

Months after their official engagement, Sakari noticed how the bad memories of the letter were fading away, standing in the shadow of her current happiness. And thus, one day, she came to Rong in the evening to tell him: 'I've forgiven you.' He'd immediately realized what she was talking about, and she couldn't remember another time in which he'd hold her as tightly and long as he'd done after those words.

There was still the fear that Rong would one day be discovered as a firebender, and they both wondered what to do once truth was out. Rong didn't want her to leave behind the place she'd grown up, no matter how many times she'd told him it wasn't the place she cared about, but the people. But eventually, she managed to convince him. They had already a plan to flee to a better place if they'd be chased away, even though they both hoped that day would never come.

It was true what they both had once concluded: they weren't like water and fire. They were a perfect match for one another, in despite of all their differences. Now that the letter wasn't standing in between them anymore, they didn't bump into many big obstacles. After Rong had noted the Fire Nation navy that 'unfortunately, the body of a drowned firebender had been found at the coast line of the Northern Water Tribe', neither of them ever mentioned the word 'letter' again.

The two of them were happy as they are, with Pon-pon dropping by every once in a while, just like Sedna and Balto did a lot. Not many people visited them, but that didn't matter – they were happy with the few ones who did. They had friends and people who cared about them.

Yukon didn't come around too often: at first, he'd been too timid to, as he was unsure how he'd handle to see Sakari and Rong together, although he had sworn that if Rong's secret came out, it hadn't come from him. And quite some time later, he was embarrassed to show up as he'd bring someone else with him. He eventually did introduce his fiancée to them, though. She wasn't much like Sakari, and it was probably for the best. She and Yukon seemed very happy together, and both Sakari and Rong were glad about that.

They lived happily and without worries, taking every day as it came. They had better and worse days, but they welcomed all days with equal joy – after all, they got to spend all of those days together. It was happiness neither Rong nor Sakari had expected to happen for them, but now that it had, one couldn't possibly find a happier couple elsewhere on the world.

**The End**

* * *

**Credits**

_Avatar: the Last Airbender_  
Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Nickelodeon

_Like Water and Fire_  
Mizumi Gintori

_Characters  
_Sakari  
Rong  
Balto  
Sedna  
Sakari's parents  
Sedna's parents  
The Healing teacher  
Yukon  
Pon-pon  
The Turtle Seals  
People of the Northern Water Tribe  
Rong's firebending friend  
The Fire Nation admiral  
The Fire Nation navy  
Yukon's fiancée

_Thank you characters for letting me write your story. My best stories write themselves, and the characters act independent of what my ideas might be. I hope I did your story justice._

**_Special thanks:_**

_You, the reader! Thank you all for keeping up with this story and encouraging me to continue. I hope you all like this final chapter and aren't disappointed by it. I want to thank Yoru no Hime, Zapenbits and Luiz4200 especially here on and Ezaren from DeviantART. But of course, also a lot of thanks to everyone else who has commented and will comment in the future. You guys more or less followed this story from the very beginning and your comments have been my main encouragement to continue and end it. I think this is the very first story of mine that has been followed with so many sweet comments, and I really enjoyed it. I hope you'll stay tuned for any more fanfictions to come! Thank you all so, so much! _

**_Extras:_**

_Surf to my profile - you can find a link there to my DeviantART page, where I post all art regarding Like Water and Fire plus the entire story, but this time with my personal notes. **Be aware that these still contain the old names (see chapter 1 for those)**._

* * *


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